Comments on: I Do Not “Support the Troops”

By: Supporting the Troops : Sharp Sand

Supporting the Troops : Sharp Sand — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 01:02:58 +0000

[...] where are all those fascist assholes now who came down on me when I wrote that I do not “support the troops” in the knee-jerk, brownshirt fashion that is now [...]

By: jd

jd — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:00:11 +0000

I don’t disagree with Mr. Petey, above. But that’s not what I was talking about. But the war-freak Right seems to positively delight in soldier’s deaths. Those deaths are a component of their violent fantasies about power, feeding the atavistic beast. Apologists for atrocity, torture & the apparent murder of fellow-soldiers who don’t toe the militaristic line … That’s why the Freepers & other psychotics’ most hysterical hatred is turned on members of the military who decide that they are in fact moral agents with moral responsibilities. Developing: Pat Tillman murdered by fellow Army Rangers who didn’t like his views on Iraq? Now, there are some “troops” the war-freaks will “support” without reservation.

By: r@d@r

r@d@r — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:33:05 +0000

I hear that magnetism has magical properties

LOL

and since we are essentially reviving a medieval conflict, why not revive medieval concepts like alchemy as well?

By: Mr. Petey

Mr. Petey — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 03:25:50 +0000

i’ll paraphrase general stark,

in order for some to live free some may die: for the soldier, death is not the worst of evils

By: jd

jd — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:42:52 +0000

Thanks, Dave. But I have an “underlying moral weakness” that is “reprehensible,” but your are “impressed” by my “fortitude.” Sounds like maybe ideas & judgments don’t fit so well on bumper stickers or in nasty blog comments. Which was part of what I was trying to say in the first place.

Dave, since you are a veteran, let me address you directly & say this one last time. I have not called for harm to any American soldier serving anywhere: I think they have been miserably used by men who care nothing about their well-being, or indeed, about their lives. But neither do I think that serving in a misbegotten, elective war & bloody occupation is wrong. And, unlike many Americans, I am unwilling to hide behind a simple-minded, knee-jerk motto. I hate lies & “support the troops” is a kind of lie. Look at the quotation marks in my post’s title & in the body. What do you think they mean? Presumably, you would agree with me that soldiers are neither children nor robots.

By: DaveG

DaveG — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:01:05 +0000

JD -

I find your posting and the underlying moral weakness that prompted you to write it reprehensible, but it’s your right to say what you believe and it is no surprise that as a veteran I strongly disagree with your viewpoint. We each see things in our own unique ways.

I did, however, want to chime in with the observation that I am impressed that you haven’t pruned the comments, no matter how vitriolic. That’s a bit of fortitude that isn’t really the norm anymore.

By: jd

jd — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:58:03 +0000

Karen, you need to meet more college teachers. I’ve never had a TA in my life. And I can assure you that my income is solidly middle class. Maybe you could write my dean and suggest he get one of those “big fat paychecks” in the mail to me. I agree, by the way, that college education is too expensive. Actually, I think it ought to be free to anyone who can do the work, all the way through to the PhD. But that would require taxpayer money, which you seem to be against spending.

It is a great privilege, though, to be a college teacher. Not because I work “part time.” (You don’t know how much I work, obviously.) But I do get paid reasonably well for doing work I love & making a contribution to American society. More than 90% of the graduates of my university have a job within six months of graduating & GE, Citicorp & other giant corporations can’t be employing them all as egg-fryers, I think. Some also go to work for non-profits working on the environment, social issues, etc. In short, you have conjured up a boogyman of academia & then denounced it. Your picture of my life is, very simply, untrue.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 14:31:08 +0000

Why is college tuition increasing at 3 times the rate of inflation? Why are college professors and administrators paid so much for part-time work, especially since they have slaves/TAs working without medical benefits, minimum wage, etc. Why are liberal elitists at the universities across this country making it impossible for the middle class to educate their children? Why do they allow people to graduate dumber than dirt and unqualified to fry an egg?

I support the troops much more than I support a liberal, white rich academic with way too much time on his hand hating our country, but collecting a big fat paycheck and conspiring against the working class sending their children to college.

By: D. Walker

D. Walker — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:40:55 +0000

Soldiers perform the duties imposed upon them by the representative government elected by the people. If you don’t support the troops, you don’t support the system. You can be a member of the loyal opposition, but to expect the troops to disobey lawful orders because you oppose the will of the electorate is to call for acts of rebellion and treason. You are free to have an opinion regarding the war and the soldiers, but the soldiers are simply performing their lawful duty as directed by the representatives of the people of the United States.

By: Chapomatic » Link Dump 23 July - Opening The Ball Valve With The Sanitary Tank Pressurized Edition

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 02:24:06 +0000

[...] lovely person’s post about ’supporting the troops’ was recommended by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Combine that with [...]