Dear Matt Drudge:

I'm with you, John. Whoever broke the story fits in the a$$hat category with me. We did NOT need to know it, and Prince Harry and his unit NEEDED to have the info held close. If Drudge broke it, he's a jerk.

I'm going to kick his ass, seriously someone get me a plane ticket.

Going to have to do a considerable climb to get up to the a$$hat territory; Drudge's post was from down where the pond slime would have pooped on it as it came up. Prince Harry, what is there to say? Well done, sir, most well done.

... From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition: And gentlemen in England now abed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day. (IV, iii)

htom - if that's what Drudge did, catch it up off Australian media, meaning the Brit media was going to slip off the leash... then yeah, not quite so bad. Still, the whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And Drudge never answers my emails, either. [pout]

Australia? I was referring to an actual pond, with actual slippery slimes living on the bottom, under the a$$hats. What they write about in Oz, I got no idea. Sorry. From an on-line member of a forum I belong to --

Re: Prince Harry Outed I, and his brother officers and colleagues serving with him out here in Helmand in the British/NATO/ISAF forces bloody well care. Personally, I think it appalling that some ego-centric journalist - who at the end of the day has a right to freedom of speech ultimately protected by the very people willing to put their lives on the line for others - has so blatant a disregard for the individual, and such lack of understanding of the situation in their rabid chase for a scoop that they would do this. Many of us have known he was here. None chose to break faith with a comrade. I think that speaks volumes. And yes, I am writing this from Helmand. So actually know what I am talking about.

The Armorer pouts? I'm dizzy. Are the lights dimming. I feel faint. Someone get me a shot of Inishowen and a man.

I think I mentioned, over at Lex's place, that if Mr. Drudge got slapped, and said something like, "Thanks! I needed that!", well, I could put up with that.

Really disappointed with this post & comments. As I told the Vodka Pundit: "Bored/Upset with Matt? http://www.thenewsrightnow.com/index.php?view=sources However, Matt takes what should be public knowledge, see Lewinsky, and really makes it public. After all, where would drug addled/sex addicted icon JFK be were Drudge around during his Presidency? Not to mention attempted Castro assasination brother RFK? As far as Prince Harry is concerned, I’m certain the Taliban, on reading Drudge, immediately attacked all British forces in Afghanistan in order to kill the Prince! I’m really disappointed when blogs I’ve read and supported for lo these many years, seem to lose all semblence(sp?)of rationallity and common sense."

Whuff! Harsh, Mike. I see your point, I just don't agree with it. Sure, the Talibs didn't rush right over and make a special effort because of Drudge. But once they knew which unit he was in, and that he was there... were *I* a Talib commander, I would have made an extra effort to score the "Spare" of the House of Windsor. If I didn't know, I wouldn't make any special efforts. Like it or not, the Prince *is* a special target. The Prince's presence in Afstan was a legitimate OPSEC concern. We maintain the same kinds of silence about unit and HVT deployments - hence, you don't read about the President and others really juicy targets being in Iraq or Afghanistan until after they've arrived - so you can't do any planning to do anything to take advantage of it. What "need to know" on the part of the public was there of Prince Harry's deployment? That wouldn't have been served just as well by revealing it when he returned? If you equate Harry in Afstan with Monica on her knees, I freely admit I don't see the connection. And just because Drudge has done well in his career, doesn't mean he hasn't done something boneheaded. And I get to comment on that. For the same reason I commented on Dan Rather. I didn't call for a boycott of Drudge. I just said, on this issue, "asshat." And I stand by that assessment. I get *lots* of kewl stuff via work and contacts that I don't publish here - stuff which would not cost me my clearance and which would garner me some traffic. But I run some filters. Filters other's don't. And they have more traffic than I. That's the business, and since I'm not in business, I *really* have that luxury. And I know that. Drudge in your hypothetical of Kennedy, and the actual of Clinton, is an example of brining insight into the character of the "most powerful person on earth" and, btw, didn't endanger anyone's life or the lives of those around them (unless you subscribe to the more fevered anti-Clinton fantasies). In the case of Prince Harry, that's simply not true. While it *does* tell us something of Harry's character, and gives us insight of what his fellow warriors think of him - it was nothing that wouldn't have waited until his return. Like I said up in a post that went up today (Sunday, 2 March) just because the Internet exists, doesn't mean that everything has to be posted on it, right now.