"warriors and wusses"
Finally a man actually says what so many have been thinking...Joel Stein writes in the LA Times what I have been contending for a long time. It is hard to maintain that you "support the troops" when you disparage everything they accomplish and openly wish for their failure.
When you hear someone say, "Iraq is the wrong war, in the wrong place at the wrong time" simultaneously contend they "support the troops," it can get a little thick.
Of course committing American lives and treasure for meaningful change in the middle east is difficult and was only considered a price worth paying after it became clear that we can not accept terror sponsoring dictators. I truly believe that we are safer in the long run for having gone and done it.
Here is Joel's op ed. Here is one of the most loathsome portions:
But I'm not for the war. And being against the war and saying you support the troops is one of the wussiest positions the pacifists have ever taken — and they're wussy by definition. It's as if the one lesson they took away from Vietnam wasn't to avoid foreign conflicts with no pressing national interest but to remember to throw a parade afterward.
Blindly lending support to our soldiers, I fear, will keep them overseas longer by giving soft acquiescence to the hawks who sent them there — and who might one day want to send them somewhere else. Trust me, a guy who thought 50.7% was a mandate isn't going to pick up on the subtleties of a parade for just service in an unjust war. He's going to be looking for funnel cake.
Besides, those little yellow ribbons aren't really for the troops. They need body armor, shorter stays and a USO show by the cast of "Laguna Beach."The real purpose of those ribbons is to ease some of the guilt we feel for voting to send them to war and then making absolutely no sacrifices other than enduring two Wolf Blitzer shows a day. Though there should be a ribbon for that.
Now that Joel has actually come out and said it, how long will it take for others to agree?
For the record, I support our troops, I appreciate their sacrifice, and I hope they come home as soon as they can.
When you hear someone say, "Iraq is the wrong war, in the wrong place at the wrong time" simultaneously contend they "support the troops," it can get a little thick.
Of course committing American lives and treasure for meaningful change in the middle east is difficult and was only considered a price worth paying after it became clear that we can not accept terror sponsoring dictators. I truly believe that we are safer in the long run for having gone and done it.
Here is Joel's op ed. Here is one of the most loathsome portions:
But I'm not for the war. And being against the war and saying you support the troops is one of the wussiest positions the pacifists have ever taken — and they're wussy by definition. It's as if the one lesson they took away from Vietnam wasn't to avoid foreign conflicts with no pressing national interest but to remember to throw a parade afterward.
Blindly lending support to our soldiers, I fear, will keep them overseas longer by giving soft acquiescence to the hawks who sent them there — and who might one day want to send them somewhere else. Trust me, a guy who thought 50.7% was a mandate isn't going to pick up on the subtleties of a parade for just service in an unjust war. He's going to be looking for funnel cake.
Besides, those little yellow ribbons aren't really for the troops. They need body armor, shorter stays and a USO show by the cast of "Laguna Beach."The real purpose of those ribbons is to ease some of the guilt we feel for voting to send them to war and then making absolutely no sacrifices other than enduring two Wolf Blitzer shows a day. Though there should be a ribbon for that.
Now that Joel has actually come out and said it, how long will it take for others to agree?
For the record, I support our troops, I appreciate their sacrifice, and I hope they come home as soon as they can.
posted by djobe at 9:48 PM
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