Pity the Poor Warblogger

Scott Lemieux, on Civilian Fatigue Syndrom and possible revisionism:

The Roman Legion was organized to fight in lines, averaging maybe 6 to 8 men deep. In battle the man at the front would fight for about 8 minutes, then move to the back of the line and the person behind him would take his place at the front. After another interval he too would then move to the back and the person behind him would take the front position. Organized in this way each man fought for about 8 minutes out of every 48 to 64. The enemies of the Romans often succomed to fatigue long before the Legionaires did.

They’re talking here not so much about actually fighting the War on Terror, but about how hard it is to be a warblogger. Let that sink in for a minute. Neo-neocon, who apparently has never encountered the concept of self-parody, even invokes Churchill in support of the weary, put upon warblogger. In the real world, 44 Americans have died in Iraq so far this month. They don’t, so much, have the luxury of warblogger fatigue.

The comments are also fun:

I’m just wondering if they all had wristwatches or little sundials on their wrists so they’d know when to change shifts. Was it all very co-ordinated with everyone in the front line shifting in sync or was it staggered – I’m just picturing the view from above ala Busby Berkley choreography – must have been awesome to see.

“One Pax Romana, Two Pax Romana, Three Pax Romana….”

(Since this is a link rather than an actual post, please go over there and tell him what a trooper he is.)

Mid-post update! Don’t neglect to follow this link.