Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Where Jointness Devolves to Self Parody

There is a beauty and power in simplicity, especially in language. The shorter, the better.

To effectively discuss a topic, it is the duty of serious people to keep descriptions accurate and easily understandable as to how they relate to the challenge or issue at hand.

When one unnecessarily complicates something, adding words and syllables or unnecessarily changing its name, that is a signal that something is going on. Either the argument is weak and in need or repackaging, or someone is trying to find some way to obscure an issue that makes a party uncomfortable.

There is also on occasion a third option; you are just trying to make someone stop whining.

In this case, we may have all three;
The Pentagon has dropped the controversial name Air Sea Battle for its concept to defeat modern anti-access weapons and folded the accompanying Air Sea Battle Office (ASBO) into the Department of Defense’s Joint Staff, according to a Jan. 8, 2015 memo obtained by USNI News.

The new Joint Concept for Access and Maneuver in the Global Commons (JAM-GC pronounced: Jam, Gee-Cee)
In the worst traditions of leftist newspeak, it appears that the Joint Staff just decided it had enough of Army butthurt from not having their playground mentioned as the other kids did. To stop him from feeling left out, everyone is getting a trophy and no one is keeping score.

In the 70s, did the Navy and USMC complain about "Airland Battle" to the point of trying to make a name change? No.

Well, you can mark your calendars now - this concept has officially gone past all utility. No one is going to say, "Jam Gee-Cee" in public with a straight face - and they shouldn't. Now that the office itself, in addition to its name, is in the Joint Staff tarpit, it will be threat to no one - which it really wasn't to begin with.

Well, they can't win on the football field, but it seems the Army can win in the Byzantine rules of the Pentagon Court. Congrats Army, you've managed to squash ideas. Yea.

Anyway, one good thing about Jam Gee-Cee - at least it has its own theme song.

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