Comments on: In a Rare Moment of Bipartisan Fairness…

By: Cyrus

Cyrus — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 04:16:40 +0000

Dudes….from the map link that I provided…we could totally bum-rush the ENTIRE ARABIAN PENISULA.

If only we had a few good men that despises Islam.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm…

Don’t be too hasty, you’ll notice all of North America is conscription-free too. And over-stretched or not, bum-rushing us would still be a challenge.

“I’m sorry, but “Protest the war but support the troops” is just spineless pwog boilerplate. It’s empty rhetoric”

America must be a really bizarre culture to live in.

You got that right.

But more seriously, PtWBStT, as it is almost always used, is sort of conceding the terms of the debate to the other side, and sounds pretty but doesn’t actually signify anything. Those are good reasons to avoid using and/or respecting it that have nothing to do with whether or not it’s necessarily empty rhetoric.

By: The Rev. Schmitt.

The Rev. Schmitt. — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 02:21:33 +0000

I’m sorry, but “Protest the war but support the troops” is just spineless pwog boilerplate. It’s empty rhetoric

America must be a really bizarre culture to live in.

By: GuinnessGuy

GuinnessGuy — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 01:33:17 +0000

At least you’re being polite about it (wink).

By: Karl

Karl — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:01:41 +0000

There is absolutely nothing immoral or shameful about joining the armed forces. Well, that's an interesting point of view. (Which is polite euphemism-speak for "NO! You're totally fucking wrong! You're so fucking wrong that you give 'right' a stomachache! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!") But that's just my point of view, with which you are entirely welcome to disagree. (If you don't mind being wrong!)

By: Luther

Luther — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 14:35:29 +0000

Dudes….from the map link that I provided…we could totally bum-rush the ENTIRE ARABIAN PENISULA.

If only we had a few good men that despises Islam.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm…

By: GuinnessGuy

GuinnessGuy — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 13:48:05 +0000

Fair enough Plebe- I know a few camoed bastards too, in my experiance, the sincere ones outnumber the psychopaths by a fair amount, though the Army attracts more of the crazies than most more mundane professions. And, oh yes- Godwin's Law has been breached! Congrats, Blowback sir- you can pick up your door prize on the way out.

By: The Plebe

The Plebe — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 12:13:22 +0000

The Onion had a headline back in 2003 that pretty much sums up my feelings on this one. “Local man supports troops, except ones he went to high school with” I grew up between an air force base (McChord AFB) and one of the largest army bases in the U.S. (For Lewis, WA). I was torn during Gulf War 1 because I felt bad for the guys over there but simultaneously I thought “Hey, those are the guys that impregnated all my female friends via statuatory rape and then left town” cause that’s pretty much how it went down. That said, I also lived with a pack of army ROTC guys in college and they were okay, non-rapist Joes. So my two views of “the troops” — solid, educated dudes looking to pay for that education / guys who needed a way to get out of jail time or an abusive family. In other words, I support the troops who aren’t total a-holes.

– TP from UT

By: RobW

RobW — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 11:50:41 +0000

I’m sorry, but “Protest the war but support the troops” is just spineless pwog boilerplate. It’s empty rhetoric and surrenders to the “we’re more patriotic than you coz we like soldiering” agenda-frame of the warniks. There’s nothing silly about pointing out the absurdity of this catchphrase in a way that’ll make people think seriously about what they mean when they say they support the troops – does this mean you support military funding that assists the troops prosecute a war you oppose? If not, then what? I’m not saying Stein’s article isn’t dumb – it’s just not dumb for that reason. (For example, he parrots the “Viet vets were spat on by protestors” myth – that’s pretty stupid.)

But then I’m not an American, either – maybe this is a Yanq thing. I guess when an army is as busy as yours is, affecting support of it becomes a national reflex. Not that an Aussie has any right to bitch about another country’s militarism.

By: David (SNAFU Principle)

David (SNAFU Principle) — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 11:16:49 +0000

From Stein’s self written bio: Joel Stein is desperate for attention.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-bio-stein-b,0,2860970.blurb?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

Nuff said.

By: blowback

blowback — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 11:09:21 +0000

Of course, they are 'only following orders'. Now where have I heard that before.

By: GuinnessGuy

GuinnessGuy — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 09:57:44 +0000

As General Fridovich, Commander of Special Operations Forces, Pacific Command said at a lecture on the Future of the US Military, in response to a question about his personal view on Iraq:
“The Army is a tool of policy, as are all of its members. We can only give our civilian leaders the best strategic advice we can in order to make their decisions, but at the end of the day, they are the ones making the decision whether to go or not.”
A pretty good summation of the Army’s role.

By: Brad R.

Brad R. — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 09:07:06 +0000

Right, but unfortunately, there is everything immoral and shameful about the fuckers who use those forces. Always has been, and the few times they’ve been used in righteous causes doesn’t change that.

OK, and that’s an entirely different point. If you’re angry at the war, blame the politicians. The Army just does the bidding of the Commander in Chief.

By: GuinnessGuy

GuinnessGuy — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 09:04:33 +0000

I’ll play the coward and not say anything other than I’m sure my high school friends in Iraq right now would appriciate your kind words as to their comparative worth to us.
Oh, and Stein is at least right on these points:
[G]ive our returning soldiers what they need: hospitals, pensions, [and] mental health [care]

By: Rob G

Rob G — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 09:02:53 +0000

“There is absolutely nothing immoral or shameful about joining the armed forces”.

By: chefrad

chefrad — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:27:43 +0000

Inept reducio ad absurdum

By: Ianua Ditis

Ianua Ditis — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 07:49:06 +0000

I hate S,N!! I wrote a lengthy, well-reasoned and compassionate (and modest) response to some of the comments, and when I hit submit it said something about a junk filter. Argh!

So, here are some good quotes from that Beast site:

Going from the Red Sox to the Yankees is like fucking the guy that murdered your husband.

Sentence for R. Kelly: Trapped in a closet. Eventually dies of thirst.

If Pat Robertsonâ€™s local Starbucks caught fire, he would claim that God was punishing them for giving him a caramel latte when he ordered vanilla.

that and the Bill O. picture is hilarious.

Now my fingers are crossed as I hit post.

By: Luther

Luther — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 07:44:37 +0000

Okey dokey…he’s a link, but not net savy: conscription by country.

wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Conscription_Map.png

I hope I don’t break anything.

By: Mr. Mordant

Mr. Mordant — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 07:27:06 +0000

Ehh, I think it’s long overdue for someone to take the piss out of that empty, mindless cliche, “support the troops”. Is there seriously anyone who can’t clearly see that it’s nothing but an attempt to personalize policies and war itself into the form of Joe Neighborskid from Shithouse Falls, Arkansas?Sorry, folks, all the yellow ribbons and happy thoughts and prayer circles in the world won’t do shit to keep your friends or family safe. I would suggest just not taking the bait when your “support” is questioned, being that it’s nothing more than another right wing strawman designed to take our attention away from important things.

And as long as you’re throwing around useless wishes to a nonexistent deity, it would be nice to vocally support the people whose country has actually been turned into a war zone, something Americans are fortunate enough to not have to worry about. If all the right wing bedwetters are shaking in their boots over the existential threat of random terrorism, imagine how quickly they’d die of fright if there were an enemy actually strong enough to invade the lower 48 and wreak havoc.

By: Luther

Luther — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 07:21:24 +0000

“OK, I hate to break this to you, but just about every country has an Army, even Sweden.”

I believe there are a few of those countries with standing “armies” that require service to country.

I could be wrong, lemmee check…

By: Brad R.

Brad R. — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 06:57:54 +0000

“Gee, I sure don’t want any of those kids to get killed, even if they are a pack of stupid retards who should know better than to join the army of a nation whose leadership is as fucked up as this one’s”

And c’mon, dude, that’s not fair. I know a couple of people in the Army- one of them was a college friend of mine- and they’re not retards.