It’s a douchebag-rich environment at HuffPo this week.
I couldn’t decide which of these two articles is written by the more misguided douchebag so it’ll have to be up to you.
First is Mona Gable, yet another perpetuator of the myth that only poor dumb hicks join the military. Get out more, Mona. Maybe you’ll meet someone like Rupert, who could beat you about the head and neck with his graduate degree.
…we have turned the armed forces into the largest vocational training school for young people in the country. What other educational enterprise regularly fields slick, direct-mail pitches to potential recruits with promises of cars, cash, and college tuition? Not long ago I went to the mailbox and, lo and behold, there was one from the Marines for my son. Like the other pitches he’s received, I tossed this one out.
But some young people aren’t so lucky. They don’t have a parent looking out for them or they don’t have great options. The military counts on this. With both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continuing indefinitely, the Army intends to add 65,000 troops by 2010. That’s a lot of bodies to dredge up. Is it any wonder that the military was recently caught granting waivers to felons? Or that the majority of new recruits come from families earning less than $60,000 a year?
This is why my son’s friend signed on to become a combat medic. Not because he had a passion for war or wanted to fight terrorism or because his father had been an Army Ranger and so the service was in his blood.
His parents were divorced and he lived in a modest apartment with his father. His father ran a small car-detailing business and barely got by.
No, he enlisted in the Army because he was lost. He enlisted because in an economy with few good-paying jobs and little opportunity it was the best future he could envision for himself.
Isn’t it a felony to tamper with someone else’s mail? I guess if it came to her house, maybe not. So maybe she’s not a felon but she’s definitely a pompous and misinformed individual. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: every military man I know under the age of 40 has a college degree, some with masters’. So that idiotic theory that only dummies with no future join up, well it makes me want to punch a face.
And I’m not even going to bother going into what we all know good and goddamn well, which is that many join because it is a good and honorable thing to do, and that if no one did? We’d all be dead or enslaved within a couple of years. I’m not even sure if I’m exaggerating with that. THINK IT THROUGH, LADY.
So that’s your first HuffPo douchebag experience of the day. Via Ace, here’s another one, by Chris Kelly:
John McCain was in the navy and then he was in the U.S. Senate. He has never cashed a check a bureaucrat didn’t write. I’m not trying to be glib, and I realize he was doing a solemn and dangerous job, killing people from the sky. But it was still government work.
Wait, except for those years as a POW. A sick but undeniable fact about John McCain: The only period in his life when he wasn’t living off the American taxpayer, he was living off the Vietnamese taxpayer.
John McCain’s father was in the navy and his father was in the navy. The last McCain who didn’t live in government housing owned a plantation in Mississippi when the state still had slaves.
Which is why John McCain always sounds so emotional when he gets to this line in his stump speech:
“I am absolutely committed to reducing the size of government.”
What he’s promising is eventually he’ll die.
Remember people, it’s the Republicans who are coldhearted assholes. Democrats support the troops. And by “support” the troops, I mean “say demeaning and nasty things about” the troops of the past, present, and future.
Douchebags.
Nazism was doomed because it was built on a racial mythology. Communism in the USSR was doomed because it was a lie. And the “narrative” of the left is . . . a little bit of both.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:34 amSeeing how the majority of households make less than $60,000 a year (Median household income 2006 was just over $48,000), no it’s no surprise. In fact, I would expect it. But don’t let facts get in the way of nicely twisted statistics…
June 17th, 2008 at 8:38 amSheesh!!! Where do they find these assholes?
Pardon my French.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:42 amOne of the great advantages of freedom of speech is that it allows the real morons of this world to reveal themselves for what they truly are. Douchbag is actualy a kind word for both of those people.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:44 amSo very angry right now. I can’t stand that attitude.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:48 amA question for commenters and lurkers who served in the armed forces:
If you left before retirement eligibility and were not disabled, was it to earn more money or less money than you earned in the service?
June 17th, 2008 at 8:51 amThat is some outrageously asinine shit right there.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:55 amI vote for Chris Kelly as today’s biggest DOUCHEBAG. What a piece of shit!
To answer b-man…I left the USAF after 4 years (20 years ago)to go to college. There were some incredibly smart and dedicated people in the service but there are also a lot of assholes hiding out there because they can’t make it in the real world.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:00 amSome people are so full of crap that if they don’t share it with others they will end up standing in the overflow.
I love these clowns shooting their mouths off. Without them most folks wouldn’t have a clue how totally devoid of human compassion, how truly clueless about the world we live in, and how absolutely morally depraved the enemies of our country and our freedom really are.
Remember, Our Constitution promises freedom of speech. There is nothing in there requiring the speaker to have any brains or coherent thoughts before they open their traps and let the crap flow.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:03 amRachel,
I know a couple of folks in the service of our country who don’t have college degrees. My best friend’s son signed up for the Army before he started his senior year of high school on a delayed enlistment program. He’s now been in the Army for 15 years. He’s served in Korea at the DMZ…twice. He’s been stationed in Germany…twice. He’s deployed to Bosnia. He’s been to Iraq…four times. Right now he’s on convalescent duty from a ruptured appendix. When he recovers he’ll deploy to Iraq for the fifth time. I saw him about three weeks ago and asked him why he does it. He told me it was because his great-grandfather’s boyhood best friend was sent to the camps in Germany in the thirties, and he doesn’t want to see something like that ever happen again. Oh, by the way, his family owns one of the last big family owned funeral homes in Chicago. Not exactly from an impoverished background.
Across the hall from me sits a nice lady whose daughter joined the Marines right out of high school as well. She’s in advanced MOS training in Mississippi right now, waiting to graduate and deploy to wherever it is that the Marines need aviation parts specialists. She thinks that will be Okinawa. She really wants to get into aircraft maintenance in civilian life, and to her thinking, getting military training was about the best way to do that. Her parents aren’t below the income median, either. No poor, uneducated, lost folks here. Just a couple of good kids from good homes who want to make things better, and improve themselves at the same time.
It is really a shame that folks like Gable and Kelly don’t acknowledge that their right to spout drivel is guaranteed by the likes of these two kids, Rupert and his buddies, and the thousands like them.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:07 amMy brother is in Baghdad right now…he has a degree in journalism from Texas A&M, a second degree in German from A&M, reads 120 books a year, owns his own business, and joined the Navy while he was working for Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Yeah, he joined cause he couldn’t earn money any other way…right.
It’s obvious the lady posting the first screed doesn’t know anyone in the military, because if she did, she’d be encouraging her son to join.
I love how she thinks she’s “protecting” him. How rich…when you consider that if he joined, he’d be protecting her. Most of us were raised to believe we became adults at 18, or maybe 21 at the latest. Nowadays, you have people like Cindy Sheehan crying about how their “children” got killed in war, when they volunteered to go, and were proud of that.
It makes me wonder if this lady will still have her son living in her basement and eating her corn flakes when he’s 37 years old. I don’t know who’ll be more pathetic; him, or her.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:15 amThree questions for Ms. Gable -
1. Denying your son the right to choose for himself what to do with his own body is a liberal act, or no?
2. Given that there are people in the military who DO need vocational training, should we stop providing it so that they are fit for nothing else after their service is completed?
3. “What other educational enterprise regularly fields slick, direct-mail pitches to potential recruits with promises of cars, cash, and college tuition?”
This one I’ll give you, Mona: the answer is ALL OF THEM. Every university that ever sent me a flyer touted its financial aid programs and its success rate at placing graduates in high-paying jobs. And had I been a potential Division I athlete, the perks would have gone up exponentially - to the point that actual education would have taken a rear seat, and I would have, in the end, been far worse prepared for life after my “service.”
Somehow I don’t think your son is as lucky as you think he is, with you looking after his interests.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:16 amI left the USAF after 10 years active duty for exactly that reason. I was an E-5 in a computer job (IT guy, basically) and I could make easily twice as much money as a civilian, so I bailed. Turns out I missed the AF so I enlisted in the reserves a few years a go, partly for the extra income and the promise of a retirement (eventually), but mostly to fulfill my desire to serve
June 17th, 2008 at 9:18 amYeah, I used to get those letters too. I don’t remember any that promised “cash” or “cars” though.
Methinks I smells me some bullshit.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:19 amA quick word on the demographic make-up of our armed forces:
In almost every demographic area, the armed forces match up nearly exactly with the demographics of the country. The notable exceptions:
*Fewer military men and women from the northeast balanced by more from the south
*Fewer African-American military men and women balanced by more Hispanic military men.
*Finally, the largest difference in the demographics of the armed forces as compared to the rest of America is, just like every good liberal likes to tell you, education and intelligence. Unfortunately for them, it goes the other way. That is, the men and women of the military are, on average, better educated and more intelligent than the average American. These are official statistics (I’ll try to find the reference for these later today)
Everybody should remember these facts to combat the stupid ass liberal meme that our soldiers are coming from the ranks of the uneducated with no better prospects in life. This is simply not true.
And thanks to all the service men and women and their families.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:21 amI left after 3 1/2 years to pursue other career opportunities. While it was far, far better for my wife and kids, it was only marginally better money-wise. Bottom line, I regret not staying in. I’d be eligible to retire now had I done so.
If Miss Mona Gable thinks it’s easy to get in the Army, she has no clue. They don’t want shiftless morons. They want motivated people who can be trained to use the equipment the military uses now. this is not the old Army. It takes close to a year to train a basic Soldier, and far longer to train a specialized Soldier, like a Ranger. It’s a huge investment and they don’t want Gomer Pyle.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:24 amWhat this post needs is some athiest angles to drag the nutbags out of the woodworks again. And more cowbell. But otherwise, it was absolutely perfect.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:27 amIf you left before retirement eligibility and were not disabled, was it to earn more money or less money than you earned in the service?
I’m not sure what, if any, point you are trying to make, but are those my only choices for leaving?
I left the Air Force after five years, and the National Guard after an additional six. I worked my way through college post-enlistment, so I suppose to you could say that I left to less money, but certainly not for it.
I’ve also left at least five other places of employment. Each departure had its reasons, but seldom were those reasons solely about the money. For example, one of the best things about the military was the opporutnity to travel. As I got older and had a family, one of the worst things about the military was the opportunity to travel. I loved the work, and sometimes I still miss it, but it was time to move on.
Were I able to roll the clock back and re-live my life, serving in the military is something that I would do again. Beyond learning technical skills (which I did not apply to my civilian career, so the “vocational school” label doesn’t fit me), I learned to lead a team, to follow a leader, to utilize self-discipline in pursuit of excellence in my work, and how to be responsible for my actions and/or inactions. It’s far more than just a paycheck.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:32 amWhere is Para today? I’d really love to hear his take — and I mean that respectfully, in absolute seriousness.
Back in the aftermath of 9/11, a friend and I had a serious falling out over the Afghan war. She’s very, very liberal. But her son is now serving in the Air Force, a decision which she, unlike Ms. Gable, handled with grace and respect for the young man she had raised — that’s parenting!
June 17th, 2008 at 9:32 amThe left hates the military. They hate them and they hate what they represent — respect, honor, dignity, service.
The leftists don’t produce enough children of their own, so they try to make leftists out of our kids. They have complete control of our public schools.
Then along comes military service and undoes all of that indoctrination. No wonder they hate the military.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:36 amIs Arianna aware that her blog suffers from acute anorectal duplication?
June 17th, 2008 at 9:39 ammona is a frequent chew-toy of Jeff and Co’s over at proteinwisdom. I don’t have to have read anything of her’s to know I’m not interested in what she has to say.
Where I work every single officer has an advanced degree. I think most or all of the enlisted have bachelor’s but I’m not sure.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:46 amALL of the officers I work with are PhD’s, DVM’s, MD’s, or MD-PhD’s. So basically I am the least educated of the bunch. We just got a 1st Lieutenant (our only), and she is working on or all ready has a Masters. The rest of the civies (federal employees) have the title Dr. and us contractors range from bach. to PhD. eat that mona!
hey! my comment from work was immediately posted! Thanks Rach!
June 17th, 2008 at 9:47 amotcconan, I’ve been following your brother’s blog the last few months, it’s a good read. Good to see he’s coming home in a few weeks.
As for the authors of those posts, clueless assholes.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:47 amMy son just began his third year at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Try telling him that the Army is the easy way out. He will receive a superior education and lifelong associations.
Getting into a service academy is an extremely difficult task and it is even harder to remain.
He was accepted to several Ivy League schools, money was no object, but he chose West Point.
He did this out of patriotism and a willingness to as he says, “serve this great Country”.
A concept that people like Mona Gable could never understand.
As a parent, I could not be prouder.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:48 amI’m convinced if the Republicans are serious about winning in November, all they have to do is shut up and let idiots like these keep talking.
Mona Gable was bad enough, a clue-by-four needs to be taken to Chris Kelly.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:48 amAlways one of my favorite liberal topics. Its always about the criminals. They are just poor mistreated victims of our society who have had no other choice but to turn to crime. Once they serve their time they should be given the same opportunity to make a life for themselves and helped. Unless they decide to join the military. Then they’re no good blood thirsty animals, and how dare our military take in these scumbags in an effort to give them a job and a purpose beyond a life of crime.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:49 amI don’t see any cars, cash or fabulous parting gifts offered at the official website.
Did this woman raise an illiterate moron? From this statement one can only assume he’s either a mama’s boy or a retard. That’s okay, though, because I wouldn’t want that pussy in a foxhole with a real soldier (say, like Nicki, for example), anyway. There can be no pussies in foxholes. (Argue that one, pussies. HAH).
Yeah, asshat, government workers suck. They, after all, did bring that hateful piece of junk mail to poor Mona’s door. I hope the “government worker” cops don’t show up when you call 911 because you’re testicles are being torn from your body by a rabid ridgeback.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:54 amI guess it’s beyond some people’s comprehension that a person might want to serve in the Armed Forces out of gratitude for one’s nation - gratitude for the opportunities and liberties afforded to each individual - and a need to give something back.
I’ll take my BS from Hopkins (which I finished prior to enlisting in the Army) and my nearly finished MA from AMU and I’ll shove them directly up her ass… sideways… so far, she’ll taste paper.
As for the second douchebag… I’m speechless. I’m not a McCain fan, but this fetid hemorrhoid on the asshole of humanity just needs to be lanced.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:04 amIt is the underlying assumptions that always get to me.
Where would the Army get 60,000 more people? After all, that’s 0.0002% of the population!
Or how about this one. Is it better for them to waive a felony conviction on some kid that needs good discipline in order to allow him to join the military and clean up his life, or would it be preferable to put that same kid in prison? Should they be allowed to make judgments like that?
Isn’t it horrible that kids serve in the military and defend the country while at the same time they are learning useful skills that can be applied later in civilian life? Isn’t that horrible?
Its just this whole line of thought that always gets me rolling my eyes. Some people just do not get military service and they will never get it because they are incapable of grasping the concepts.
I served 4 years in the USMC in the 1980’s. My reasons were not entirely noble but they were certainly not ignoble. I learned a trade there that I applied for a few years in civilian life (later changed careers). So what? With everything this country has given me I’d say overall I’m still on the personal benefit side of the equation.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:05 amWow, join the military to advance your future what an idea. Is this news to anybody? Someone should tell Mona that’s been going on since men joined the Roman Legions and probably before then. What an asshat.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:06 amI just got a text message from my son, Matt the Marine.
He just got a Commander’s Exellence coin, personally delivered by the Battalion commander, has been put in for not one but two NAM’s, is a 24 y/o corporal basically running food services for the battalion.
Tell me again how stoooopid my son is?
Oh, and he’ll be taking correspondence courses during his upcoming deployment in Iraq so he can pick up his degree.
Tell me again how stoooopid my son is?
Mona, you’re not good enough to lick my son’s combat boots clean.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:07 amMy son-in-law is working on his Masters, I believe. He’s a CPO working on nuclear reactors in submarines. When he’s back home, we discuss quantum physics (Yes, I’m an armed nerd, damned proud of it, and you wanted to say what???).
Tell Mona to stuff it where the sun don’t shine.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:13 amThe military has always been an honest, honorable way to jump from lower class to middle class.
Basic training / boot camp has long been considered a good way to teach kids from troubled backgrounds the discipline, the patience, and the ability to follow directions that they might lack. It helps them find the courage, the compassion, and the devotion in themselves that makes good citizens. It also helps bring home that we are citizens of our nation first, not members of isolated groups of kids. Military life introduces tolerance of other beliefs and other races.
So the first lady is correct - much of the military experience, on the way to training warriors - trains people of various backgrounds to be warriors. Different kids from different backgrounds have different things to learn - but no one gets a free ride.
I recall one report that there were more traffic fatalities in the US than battle fatalities in Vietnam. Does the first lady also protect her son from advertising for alcohol, for cars, and for salacious social activities? Does she protect him from foods that will likely hazard his health in years to come? Is she finding him a good wife (since married men live longer, or it might seem that way, at least, too bad women that *don’t* marry tend to live longer)? Is she teaching her kid the life-saving discipline, courage, and ability to think in times of crisis that he might be missing from the ’slick’ military training?
Grr.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:26 amI’m not sure I can answer B-man’s question, I got hurt, and was offered a really crappy job if I wanted to stay in. It’s pretty tough on the ego to go from being an Airborne Infantry Sergeant to being the guy who signs out basketballs at the post gym.
As for these stupid mothers, they probably think they are protecting their sons, but in reality, I have never met a manor woman who served in the military that didn’t feel it made them better. Better workers, better citizens, better physically fit, better mentally fit, and much more confident.
Likewise, I have never met an employer that wasn’t thrilled to learn a Veteran was joining thier team, and everywhere I have ever worked has found me rising to the top very quickly to be a supervisor ( with a bigger paycheck)
When I got out in 1989, I got a summary of my pay, with benefits, housing, food , medical, and my paycheck. As an E-5 with 4 years in service, I got about 26,000 per year. I took a civilian job the next week at about 10,000 per year. The military money was much better. But fuck the money, I was a soldier, just like my mom and dad, who served during the VietNam war, and my stepdad, who dropped the 82nd Airborne into Normandy on D-Day.
You simply cannot assign a price to knowing I was one of many in a long line of patriots who traded a few years of my life for a lifetime of freedom for me and my family, and I might add, these stupid women, who are free to be stupid. You’re welcome, you ungrateful bitches.
Thanks to all of you who have posted to day who get it.
BTW, I learned how to get drunk in the Army, I didn’t need to go to college. I have employed many many many college grads over the years who could not spell, did not know US History, or could not do simple math.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:32 amtwo of my wife’s 3 sons serve(d) … the third is handicapped and so didn’t qualify. The oldest is currently less than 6 months from retirement. Almost has a degree but has been slightly busy the past few years … lol. The younger served a tour in the Navy and learned a trade - avionics - that is very much in demand.
Yep … the military is certainly a bad thing.
b-man … when the soon-to-be-retiree leaves the service, he will probably be hard pressed to make the same salary … it’s really not like the old days when I earned 330 bucks a month as a corporal … he’s managed to raise his kids, and buy a house (without mortgage hassles) now that he’s transferred back from overseas … on his military salary (wife doesn’t work outside the home).
I especially loved Kelly’s snide comment — “dangerous job, killing people from the sky”. I’m certainly no fan of McCains … but assheads like Kelly are putting me more and more in the mavericks camp … after all, the enemy of my enemy … LOL
June 17th, 2008 at 10:41 amWow, that’s amazingly arrogant and condescending.
My daughter and son are both over 18 and have fully functional brains. They are adults and quite capable of making their own decisions about what to do with their lives. While they may appreciate advice from me and their mother, they don’t need us to “look out for them” as if they were still little children.
But that’s the typical lefty view of military personnel, isn’t it? That they are “kids” who were duped into volunteering, or desperate poor people who enlisted because they “don’t have great options”.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:42 amBasic training / boot camp has long been considered a good way to teach kids from troubled backgrounds the discipline, the patience, and the ability to follow directions that they might lack. It helps them find the courage, the compassion, and the devotion in themselves that makes good citizens. It also helps bring home that we are citizens of our nation first, not members of isolated groups of kids. Military life introduces tolerance of other beliefs and other races.
Well said. And when you get right down to it, exactly what our schools used to do until the liberals had their negative influence on them.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:45 amThe definition of irony, according to Dictionary.com is this:
2b. (esp. in contemporary writing) a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc., esp. as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion.
An example of irony, in this particular instance:
A liberal complaining that McCain has only lived off of the government dole while advocating a political philosophy designed around the concept that more people should be on the government dole.
Meanwhile, we have another liberal that’s upset because people are getting help from a federal program she doesn’t like (the military) when it’s clear to her that people would be so much better off if, instead of being poor and joining the military to edge into middle-class-land, they just remained poor and lived off of welfare or something. Oh, and parents should always make big life decisions for their children, even if their children are nearly 18 and probably want to exert a little control over their lives.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:54 amAs a member of the dreaded left, I’d first like to correct Bonnie in saying that I of course do not hate the military. I am humbled by the people who volunteer to serve in our armed forces, and to say I’m grateful is an understatement.
As to what background people enlist come from, does it matter? Isn’t the fact that they are trying for something MORE - whether it be vocational skill (because God forbid we teach people how to actual tasks, rather than tell us the meaning of the green light on the harbor in the Great Gatsby) - or if they are legacy - or if they want to serve this country. Heck, I’m with DaveW regarding felons too. As a liberal, I’m supposed to be all about rehabilitation, right? What better place for structure and a chance to thrive and make something of yourself than the military?
I’m tired of people thinking that the left is reaally just so anti-military. There is a huge difference between anti-military and anti-war, and I can assure you all that I fall squarely in the latter camp. (And don’t let that make you think I’m a wuss, because I think the best diplomacy is done with one open hand and the other with a big stick in it.)
June 17th, 2008 at 10:54 amAw, c’mon!
HufflePuffHuffPo has always been a pretentious sneeringly elitist douchebag site.The shocking thing is when they occasionally (very occasionally) publish something coherent and non-sneeringly non-elitist.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:00 amOops, here’s the link for the Marines.
I still didn’t see any great prize for joining.
Oh, and I just read the whole post from Mona. It made my gorge rise higher than the “someone dressed as Princess Leia” pic I posted in the last thread.
Ack. Just posting that makes me nauseated.
Here’s your violin.
College is an option for anyone willing to work hard and accept student loans. I got my GED and came from a private hell this twit could never understand, yet I was accepted and thrived.
She acts like this kid is marching off to a Gulag camp. I really haven’t earned the right to assess the “gulaginess” of the Armed Forces, but judging from the responses and reactions here I can only assume conditions were/are NOT similar.
In case I haven’t thanked those who have served for doing so, thank you. I can’t fully fathom the nature of the situations you must have encountered; I can only be grateful that you did so with dignity and grace.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:05 amMy vote is for the second article. Anyone who could even contemplate calling the hell McCain lived through as “living off the Vietnamese taxpayer” is in serious need of help. That is just beyond the pale.
As for me, I left the submarine service after 7 years in the Navy. My first civilian job was for significantly less pay than I was making as a submarine officer. Money was neither the reason I joined nor the reason I left. Plain and simple, the reason was that the force had lost sight of its mission.
The reason I joined goes way back to when I was a wee lad of 15. I met a young girl who had escaped the wonderful utopia that was Ceausescu’s Romania. I will never forget the day she told me, “The problem with Americans is that you don’t appreciate your freedom.” I knew right then that I was going to be in the military.
Every submarine officer (except the Chop) has at least a Master’s equivalent in Nuclear Engineering. Every enlisted man in the engineering department has at least a Bachelor’s equivalent in Nuclear Engineering. Most of the CPOs also have Master’s in either business or management. I would venture that the least educated submariner is more educated than Ms. Gable. But that just makes her a dolt, not the mark-1, mod-0 douchebag that is Mr. (Ms?) Kelly.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:08 amBrooke, you do have to admit that there a lot of those people who are anti-military do come from the left. Not all on the left are anti-military but they are certainly there.
There are also those who will attempt to put forth a mask to appear as you are: the claim of I support the troops not the mission. Now you may be sincere in this, but others will occasionally drop the facade and let it be seen that its just empty rhetoric because people no longer stand for the Vietnam-era view of the military they wish they could spout fully.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:13 amSure buzzion, I can admit it. Heck, my father in law is one of them, and he teaches on the bases in Germany. I’m sure you can probably even find some on the right. God knows, I’ve sometimes questioned our own president’s respect and support of the military.
I also know that when you question a dreaded liberal about their own children and the military, some will go “Oh my god, No!” and some will go “If it’s what they want” or “My kid could use the discipline and structure.” Nothing is ever clear cut, and even in that first group of nay-sayers, you can usually verbally smack them around enough so they will come to their own realization that they sound like a pompous ingrate.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:24 amI’m confused.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:26 amWhat do these people want?
Why is it a problem for children of people earning less than $60k to join the military? Isn’t that what liberalism is all about? Learn a skill for free? Oh wait, I forgot that you need to serve to learn the skill. I’m stupid, not confused. The military is evil, the government should take it over. Oh wait, it is a government agency. I’m confused, not stupid. Wait, I earn less than $60k, so my son should not join the military but should go to a private school costing $40k/yr? Now I’m confused and stupid. Obama save me!! Wait, I heard he’s the anti-christ, never mind. Give me that guy who’s been on the government dole his entire life (what, they don’t pay people when their POW? What a ripoff.) Rachel help!
I just thought of another reason to vote McCain:
To piss off mothers like these two. I want them to get so mad they get spontaneous nose bleeds.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:47 amI want to collectively “oorah” all y’all. It’s the buttnuggets who write tripe against bravery, sacrifice, selflessness and honor that are the real drag on this great nation. They are truly the dingleberry on society’s posterior.
Have you ever wondered–given that this is the greatest nation on God’s green earth–how much greater we would be without having to lug around all the dead weight like Mona and Chris?
June 17th, 2008 at 12:03 pmWait a sec… Chris Kelly is missing a huge point in his analysis!
While John McCain was living off the Vietnamese taxpayer’s dole, he was still being paid by the United States since he was on active duty. McCain is a DOUBLE DIPPER!! And all he had to do to get those big bucks was to live a life of leisure at a Hilton in the tropics.
My vote, though, goes to Ms. Gable because she manages to cluelessly impugn the motivations, intellect and integrity of millions of fine men and women in a single post.
I earned my commission in 81 and burned the uniform in 87 because 6 years was enough for one career. The men and women I served with (including my wife of 28 years) were the finest single grouping of people America can offer and still are.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:08 pmAll jump in.
At the end of my first tour and I could get out I had:
BS Astronuatical Engineering (Astrophysics track)
MS Aerospace Engineering (Aero Design)
1500 hours of heavy, multi-engine time (B-52)
I stayed in becuase I liked the job, the people, and defending the country. Retired after 20, after adding another MS in Operations Research and 3500 more hours including time over Afghanistan right after 9/11 (did you know that it takes about 55 seconds for a 2,000 JDAM to fall from a B-52 to the head of a jihaidst? And they hear it coming for the last 3 seconds?). Now making 6 figures in the defense industry designing the future.
Yea, my choice was military or jail. What clowns.
Islam will change
June 17th, 2008 at 12:13 pmAside from the obvious, this quote stopped me in my tracks first: “there was one from the Marines for my son. Like the other pitches he’s received, I tossed this one out”
Isn’t it a federal offense to tamper with mail that’s not addressed to you? If her kid is over 18, isn’t that some sort of felony??
Edit: That’ll teach me to get so riled up I comment before I read to the end.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:14 pmSorry for being a ‘tard, Rachel.
As my dad would say, if you put them both in a bag and shook it up, it would be difficult to tell which one crawled out first.
Of course, this only makes it all the more incredible that they published a favourable piece on the Canadian Human Rights debacle. Wonders never cease.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:22 pmTo add to b-mans database, I left the Navy after 7 years of service because I wanted to start a family. I know that there are plenty of successful families in the service, I just couldn’t see myself splitting the responsibilities effectively. In doing that, I actually took an effective pay cut, the military is no longer a place of low pay, unless you take into account actual hours worked; but that is another story.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:26 pm18 USC § 1702:
“Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
—————————-
When the recipient is a minor child, a case could perhaps be made that the parent acts as agent. If the child is no longer a minor, YES, IT’S A FREAKING FELONY. Since the author says her son is 18 and describes the mail-pitching as having occured “not long ago…”
One wonders about the acuity and intelligence of someone who would openly admit committing such a felony. “Progressives” always seem to stand ready to criminalize political policy differences, but blithely ignore the law when it doesn’t suit them. Maybe because they’re special. Short bus short bus short bus….
June 17th, 2008 at 12:33 pmI still don’t get why it’s such a big problem for people who don’t have better options to join the Military.
I dropped out of College and joined the Military. It was the best option at the time. (shrug)
Spent 4 years in the AF. I’ll never regret joining and I’ll never regret leaving. It was just not something I wanted to dedicate my life to.
The left should spent more time making something better than the military, instead of trying to tear it down all the time.
Actually, now that I think of it, doesn’t everyone join the Military because it’s their best option to fulfill their goals in life?
June 17th, 2008 at 12:38 pmIt’s also just plain rude. When a piece of mail arrives for my offspring, I put it aside for them to look at, even if I’m sure they will throw it away. They do not need me to do that for them.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:39 pmNo, it isn’t.
What they want is for the poor and downtrodden to stay poor and downtrodden, and keep right on voting for Democrats.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:42 pmAnd what exactly is wrong with that?
My father-in-law was one of those ‘lost souls’ who joined the Marines during WWII. One of 11 children in West Virginia with a father who would rather spend money on booze than on shoes for his kids, he lied about his age and joined up when he was 16. He spent the rest of the war on a boat in the Pacific, and stayed in the reserves when the war ended. He never went to college, but he was a genius mechanic who could fix anything. He was called up again for Korea, and left his wife behind while he served again.
He used the skills he learned while in the Marines (along with his God-given talent), and earned a good living for his family. He was proud of his service, and he was no idiot, the military was definitely a way to a better life. Oh, and he was a life-long Democrat.
So, to sum up, a good guy, rough life, sees a chance to better himself while serving his country=loser in their eyes. Classy.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:53 pmThese cowards have no idea what they are talking about, and how disgustingly insulting their words are to those who defend our freedom.
I’m a bit perplexed and ambivalent.
I have a brother and know the sons or husbands of friends who are serving in the military. They have my prayers, respect, and admiration.
However, I don’t think much of Mr. McCain’s politics.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:57 pmFunny, nobody promised me cash or cars, but I acquired some of both, not to mention two 4-year degrees after my service was up (B.S., M.Arch), one of which my GI Bill completely paid for. Say nothing of the discipline and skills I learned, nor the personal satisfaction I enjoyed.
I am the oldest of four natural brothers from three separate family backgrounds (long story), each of whom elected to serve–USAF, USMC, Army, and Navy, respectively. I also have four more brothers by adoption and remarriage (part of the long story), from exactly the SAME family background who elected NOT to serve. There are differences between those who join and those who don’t, but family/class situations are not the sovereign factor, not by a long shot.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:01 pmWhen I joined the Army in the very early 60’s, my first paycheck was for $50+change! Later, as a sargent E-5 in Special Forces and putting in three back-to-back tours in VietNam, I received the princely sum of $300/month base pay, $50/mo. Jump pay, $50/mo. Combat pay and $50/mo. Demo. pay. Even then that wasn’t a fortune by any stretch of the imagination (though it was tax-free because of the combat thing; and sometimes S.F. got per diem [$15/day] for going “other” places). People didn’t and don’t join the Army to get the big paychecks.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:04 pmAs for the son of the first writer: I doubt that he’ll ever be anything more than a mama’s boy, holding her hand to get across the street, for the rest of his life. I almost feel sorry for the little fella, because he won’t ever have the chance to find out what he’s made of - thanks to mama.
The second writer seems to be going along with the rest of the obamazoids and trying to denigrate McCain’s service. There’s a lot of that sort of crap cropping up now. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that the obamassiah is a pretty wimpy little guy. (oh, and McCain did receive his pay while he was a POW; and his promotions. I guess that makes him guilty of double-dipping in that his US pay was being held for him and the brave freedom fighters of north VN were supporting him in such fine style. For shame.)
I do believe that it wouldn’t upset me at all to see a runaway garbage truck plow into a codepink or moveon demonstration. Nope. Wouldn’t lose a minute’s sleep.
Ah I see, I wasn’t feeling lost when I left the military because I realized I loved it and felt like I was part of something bigger and, in a way almost elite (compared to the average American), it was because I was an always have been a redneck hick. And I guess I’ve doubled my stupidity by rejoining in a time of war because, well, only an idiot would do that. I guess that 30 on my ACT was a fluke.
This reminds me of that movie The Ruins where the main characters are all yuppie American college students whose only refrain is, “Somebody else will come find us. Somebody else will get us out of this mess.”
These morons whine about the military going after their own kids but immediately call for a Marine when they get threatened. If that’s intelligence I’ll stick to being a dumb lost redneck, thankyouverymuch.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:05 pmHave any of you guys read the comments under her column? Priceless.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:13 pmThis reminds me of Joan of Argghh!’s post on Learned Helplessness, which was pretty good—for a Slacker.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:23 pmPara Says:
I’ll add that to my list!
Lovers be damned, Virginia is for heroes!
June 17th, 2008 at 2:10 pmStoooopid, yep that’s the people who serve. My cousin, MBA (W4), his wife PHd (LtCol). My b’inlaw BS (SmSgt). All while serving, all career.
Me, I only made Sgt, got out, went to school. Today
June 17th, 2008 at 2:24 pmI’m anengeneerenginerI’m good at math.This also reminds me of the book Wild Swans by Jung Chang. It’s a true story about three generations of Chinese women before, during, and after the rise of Communism in China. During the cultural revolution people took it as a badge of honor that they didn’t know anything and considered people like doctors to be contemptible.
If you’ve never read it I would highly recommend it. Same author has also written a very good biography of Mao.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:53 pmI was going to nominate Mona. But she won’t be able to accept since she is breastfeeding.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:59 pmI’m sure there are some 3rd world taxpayers that would not mind supporting Chris.
Hey, I thought John F’n Kerry “Halped” all the clueless who were “stuk in Irak”. How come there are still so many for them to complain about?
More “wisdom” from the Cubicle Moonbat (TM - 14K): The military is not mostly Conservative. Most of the people in the military are against the War, but they don’t say anything because they’re afraid they’ll get in trouble.”
June 17th, 2008 at 3:48 pmI second your recommendation! Wild Swans is an incredible book. I didn’t know too much about Chinese history, and it explained a lot. It was disturbing how people would turn on each other, and how one group would be highly esteemed one week, and then the subject of suspicion the next. Mao was an asshole of the highest degree.
June 17th, 2008 at 4:01 pm> the Army intends to add 65,000 troops by 2010
Is that 65,000 net increase? Or it is 65,000 new recruits to replace, say, 65,000 people who leave the service to pursue other things, like college, or retirement?
> Or that the majority of new recruits come from families earning less than $60,000 a year?
Is it perhaps the case that the majority of taxpaying American families earn less than $60,000 a year? Is that classism I smell in the wind?
June 17th, 2008 at 4:02 pm(http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/05in12ms.xls)
Both the Army and Marine Corps are planning to add addition troops to final endstrength by 2010. Both are well ahead of the projections to make their goals. The Marines may make it a year in advance.
The military is very conservative, more-so than the public, and heavily votes republican. Most of the people in the military support the war since they actually know what we are fighting for (vs. a rather large junks of the ass-hats at huff land). Re-enlistment rates of units that actually have fought in Iraq is at the highest rate ever. People are voting with their feet - to win the war.
Islam will change
June 17th, 2008 at 4:11 pmAfter receiving his journalism degree, he took a job writing for a newspaper that allowed him to live in my uncle’s garage apartment. As a result of the next two years or so, my uncle had a huge influence on him.
And what an influence. Our uncle was a biker longhair in the late ’70’s who was constantly getting into trouble, and he got dragged in front of a judge (I forget what for) and the judge told him he could have prison or the Marines. Our uncle chose the Marines, and it totally changed his life. He’s the CEO of a multimillion dollar company now, beautiful wife, 2 kids who just graduated from college.
So yeah, the military does take some pumpkins and turn them into chariots.
But many of them are already chariots going in.
June 17th, 2008 at 4:58 pmAh, Mr.Carson! You’re the reason I’m getting so many pings from this thread. Took me a while to discover your link here.
I thank you for the linky-luv and applaud your sensible taste in blog fare!
:o)
.
June 17th, 2008 at 5:16 pmThat’s nice and all, Rachel. But I would not EVER put any stock into any degrees earned by anyone by any institution. Most “schools” are certificate factories in it for the money. Any moron can earn one.
And, yes, that includes our men in uniform. Degrees look good to promotion boards. Schools like money. They graduate military men one after the other for more of that sweet Congress-granted cash.
One of the absolute dumbest, thick-as-a-post idiots I have ever met has a Masters degree and was a Sgt. Major in the Army. He was 2nd in command at our FedGov agency. Unfortunately, after he retired the DoD hired him back on as a civilian. Now he’s double-dipping and still as densely moronic as ever. No one can ever convince me that he’s anything but a waste of oxygen.
It terrifies me to think he was ever responsible for any private’s safety. I don’t know if he ever got anyone killed via sheer stupidity, but I wouldn’t doubt it in the least.
June 17th, 2008 at 6:26 pmWow, Michael. One data point proves the rule. How could we all have been so blind? You know one military person who is not so bright and that proves beyond all doubt that every one of us is an absolute moron.
Following that logic, I know someone who thinks like you do who is not the sharpest knife in the drawer either. Therefore, you are an idiot. Q.E.D.
June 17th, 2008 at 7:38 pmWhen I got out in 86, After 8 years, it was to help in the family business, for less pay and benefits. Several years later, I started my own business and did rather well, money wise, time wise,it was a major grind, on the order of 80 hours a week.
Now I am on my third year as a contractor,2 1/2 in Iraq, now in Afgahnistan, making low six figures, tax free! Thank you Taxpayers!
June 17th, 2008 at 10:29 pmI am the daughter of a career sailor (32 years) who enlisted in 1957 after being told either sign up or go to juvenile hall (he was a bit of a hell raiser). He never graduated from high school, but did receive his GED. He retired in 1989 as a Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9) and an excellent record. My husband is an officer in the Marine Corps with 17 years. He has a B.A. and an M.B.A. The military has shaped both of these men into the incredible people they are today. Discipline, perserverance, sacrifice, honor, courage, and commitment. All of these things I have seen first hand from the two most important men in my life. I have a friend who has been in the Marine Corps over 20 years. He is from a very wealthy family. He chose the Corps because he wanted to belong to something bigger than himself. What people like Mona and Chris fail to understand is that the military offers plenty of opportunity, vocational and college. Soldiers from the Army’s Third Infantry Division massed over 15,000 college classes while deployed in 2007: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50237. Perhaps people who just “don’t get it” should check out this site on the official DoD webpage: http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/2008/whyweserve/. At the Marine Corps base in At-Taqaddum, Iraq the Marines re-enlisted 140 Marines. I agree with buffpilot who noted that most (not all) military support the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan because they know what is happening boots on the ground.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:24 pmAs an active-duty junior Army enlisted with a BS and a MS, I joined for many reasons, financial just being one of them. And while my Dad (initially) opposed my joining, he let me do it anyway and is now quite happy with how I’m doing now.
And let me tell you, college does not teach you the things the Army has taught me.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:57 pmMy elder son is scheduled to complete boot camp at Parris Island on August 8th. He has a BA in International Studies and will be 29 in September. It took him two years to get in (old medical history) and spent a lot of time at the recruiters. IIRC, the Marines won’t even take a GED unless that person also has about 15 credit hours from a college or university. Oh, and the paperwork drill to overcome any past legal issues is incredible.
BTW, I’m a retired naval flight officer with a degree in history, a graduate of the Naval War College, and got hired by a software company before I finished my MS in Information Systems.
June 18th, 2008 at 12:54 amRFE for RachelLucas.com: The Daily Douchebag.
Pretty please?
June 18th, 2008 at 2:24 amThis line really leaps out:
Wow! Computing, wireless devices, biotech, nanotech, solar energy, electric cars… this economy has opportunity coming out every orifice. With oil at $130/barrel, there is unimaginable wealth to be had by developing new energy sources, or by making any existing product that consumes energy consume less. And that’s just the first of a dozen things that immediately come to mind.
Little opportunity… jeez, what a moron.
June 18th, 2008 at 2:57 amBill (Mamba1-0) said:
You bet. It’ll go like this:
June: He wasn’t tortured continuously for 5 years. They only did it occasionally. (But often enough to leave mental scars that make him crazy and unfit to serve.)
July: It wasn’t technically torture. They did some nasty things, like X and Y and Z, but technically those aren’t considered torture. So, he’s exaggerating.
August: It wasn’t actually that bad. He makes it sound bad to bolster his image as a war hero. Which is a total crock because war is immoral; there are no heroes in war.
September: He’s using his fake “war hero” status to silence dissent, which is the only true form of patriotism.
October: McCain was actually a traitor. Under the mildest of conditions, he revealed all sorts of classified information that led to hundreds of other Americans being killed. We have uncovered documents to prove this, but Microsoft Word keeps crashing, so please bear with us.
November: President-elect Obama: I want to thank John McCain for running a spirited campaign and for his many decades of honorable service. He is a great American patriot, as I have said all along.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:24 amMy husband included with other coworkers of his do not have a college education.But while his friends are getting sh*tfaced in college,and screwing away their parent’s money…My husband had already served in the Persian Gulf.Been to Greece,Turkey,Dubai,Bahrain (like 10 times),and elsewhere.What can his friends say? He is also preparing for a second deployment while his friends are just getting their “first job in the real world.”Bingo.
So I think it transfers over into “real world” education.You cant get that working at McDonalds or working for a lawfirm.Sorry.
The utter discipline…My husband has certain views on how his clothes should look civilian or not,and also maintains himself differently.Went into the Navy with a mohawk,and has a shaved head ALWAYS.Have you seen how civilians walk compared to military?
The list is endless.
For us also…we get $1,242/month for housing.Our rent is only $500/month.So that gives us more money to improve our household,and eat better food.We also shop exclusively at the Commissary which saves us anywhere from 20%-50% off groceries.
These are the reasons we’re staying in.
Plus my husband likes the structure and likes being proud of what he does.(Again how many people working at McDonalds can feel the pride in doing their job and helping to secure America…??? They cant.)
My husband’s dad was a Lt.Col in the Air Force.He was a military brat…so it wasn’t that he was hurting for money when he outta high school.
Again,if you’re not prior military or actively serving…shut your face.You dont know what we go through or understand why we’d volunteer to serve or serve in the Silent Ranks…so dont even try to comprehend.
Thanks,Rachel for always looking out and covering the military families.
June 18th, 2008 at 7:50 amDo you have a link to that?
Not saying you’re lying, just that I would love to have that link on hand when some libtard complains about “torture” at Gitmo.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:39 amsam - he doesn’t have a link yet, it’s not July. But in a few weeks, don’t worry, the lefties will have obliged us.
Excellent thread, great comments from the military families. Thank you all for your service. And you are all living, writing proof that book larnin’ ain’t all that: there is so much more that goes into life than merely knowing answers. Discipline and courage are far more important to actual accomplishment.
June 18th, 2008 at 2:02 pmI’m pissed at this crap. I’ll stay calm, tho.
Hmm, after graduatin’ college (civil engineering
and business management), I wound up gettin’
commissioned inta the USMC.
WHY? ‘Cuz I jus’ LIKED the IDEA. Good enuf fer a 21 yr old, right?
“B-man”, 18 years after that, I wound up gettin’ my back purty messed up in a combat situation.
One year later, I was offered a “desk job”, and opted ta retire when they offered me the full 20
year retirement as another option.
We were a “specialty” unit, and to not be able ta go back to that… NAH!
I’ll stop there, except ta say ta these MISCREANTS
who denigrate us:
Come live with us. For a full year, so you can
know the cold and the heat. Among other things.
Join us as we get that call, scramble like hell fer a waitin’ chopper, and get delivered into a HELL you have never imagined. Achieve yer objective, and maybe wipe the blood of both friend and foe offa yer face as ya mount up and go back ta wait fer the next call. Unless YOU were one of those who did not “make it”. (God Bless ‘em all!)
Enough…
War is a part of the human existence. You can live to defy the tyrants another day if ya fight ‘em TODAY.
OR, you can be like these SCUM that Rachel quoted and DIE while bleating yer ovine protests!
This all jus’ made me tired.
SEMPER FI!
June 18th, 2008 at 5:45 pmWhen LBJ was running against Goldwater a judge gave me the choice of join or jail. He also told me that if I came back with an Honorable Discharge he’d help me more with a job or with school. I got my GED in the Service and was looking forward to staying in. The Corps was good to me until an injury put me in a line of work with slow promotions and no action.
So I went to see that judge again, this time with no handcuffs on. I’m retired now, I’ve never been rich but had a pretty good life for a wild kid with no motivation. The pay was $78.00 a month to start. I was making about a hundred a month when I went to Nam the first time. That $55.00 a month combat pay was a fortune.
June 19th, 2008 at 12:20 amWow. Now that’s perspective. Yesterday, I put $56.85 in my car, which will last the week.
June 19th, 2008 at 9:36 amRaving Lunatic Says:
June 22nd, 2008 at 12:20 pmThat point didn’t last long. I didn’t even get a chance to look up the median income in the USA. I would have to admit that when I went into the Navy at the end of the 70s, there were definitely a few kids who the recruiters must have taken on a really bad Friday to fill a quota. And even then, most of them had heart. 25 years later, it was M. C. Hammer and “You Can’t Tough This”. I do not believe that any nation ever has had men and women of this caliber and quality before. Well maybe or even probably Israel, and that is equal and not better.
Well, I’m pretty darn sure you’re exaggerating. When was the last time US armed forces defended us against an invasion? When was the last time any world army attempted to enslave the us? Quite a while back, as I recall. Our national defenses could cope quite easily against pretty much any such attack.
I’m not arguing that we should scrap the army, that would be dumb, although it works for places like Iceland, we’ve got more to defend. But the point is, without an army we’d still cope. All the money currently spent on food, equipment, transport etc. could go towards making our homeland defenses even stronger. We just wouldn’t be able to fight billion dollar wars in other countries, to boost the bottom line of our arms developers, and secure cheap oil.
Ignore the rhetoric, I couldn’t help myself. The point is, the demos have gone off on the wrong tack if they want to persuade me - it’s not so much about not recruiting more soldiers (the forces are a pretty good career path in the scheme of things), but rather not sending them off to fight pointless wars against extremists who will not give up and will never be defeated, and who only pose a relatively small threat to most of us (compare terrorism-related death-toll in this country to death-toll in Iraq and Afghanistan, then factor in the amount of small boys who’ve seen American soldiers killing men they knew, who will then quite likely grow up hating our country and wanting to blow us up, when previously they only envied our wealthy lifestyles): the sad fact is, no matter how noble and brave our troops are (and the answer to that is INCREDIBLY noble and brave, for the most part) wars like the one in Iraq only serve to make national security worse, and lead to more unnecessary deaths of our country-men and -women.
So don’t pretend that the “war on terror” is protecting us from enslavement - you’re deluding yourself. It just provides terrorists with a much lower security playground for their tactics, making it much easier for them to kill much more of our people. Admittedly it reduces the likelihood of another 9/11, but only because its easier to build an IED and kill a patrol over there than it is to commandeer an airplane over here.
I’m here in the UK studying for a Masters in political science. My best friend from high school is in Iraq. I hope - whichever candidate wins the election - he and his colleagues get home safe and soon, and that our country doesn’t make the mistake of fighting an unnecessary ideological war for a third time.
June 24th, 2008 at 7:23 am