I agree with you in regards to performing one's civic duty. I disagree with the overly patriotic interpretation of why our valued servicemen and women are sacrificing their lives.
You prove my point. Because of their sacrifice, you retain the right to have freedom of speech and to be able to disagree with me, but more importantly, your own government!
Certainly members of the armed forces are working in the job they chose, and serving the desires of our soon to be departed President. I admire them for not just saying "Screw it, I can't work for this idiot anymore." The threat of jail time for quitting one's job might play a role in that.
Be glad they volunteer. Otherwise, there could be a draft or as in some countries, a mandatory requirement to serve for 2 or more years. There is also jailtime under those systems for unwilling participants. Those men and women essentially serve as your surrogate in your duties to your country. One perspective is that they are contracted through your tax dollars to provide a service that you do not have to perform--at least, yet!
Writing they are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan so we can have freedom is a bit of a stretch...particularly since the amount of money we have thrown at these efforts will serve to enslave us for generations in the future. The big three U.S. automakers were recently made a political spectacle of for asking for loans totaling just one month's worth of money spent in Iraq.
With all due respect, you are off point with this extraneous bit of information in regard to the original argument. Save it for another argument.
Afghanistan - justifiable
Iraq - Where are those WMD's again? Where's all that Iraqi oil revenue that was supposed to pay for this? This thing has cost how much again? What's that...you say we're in the worst recession in this country in over thirty years?
Does this have anything to do with Jury Duty or our duties as citizens?
The WMD were moved to Syria. Don't remember anything about Iraq's oil. Do you know the cost?
We are in the worst recession in 30 years because of easy credit and crooks on Wall Street that have stolen our Net Worth in a system that we all bought into--not much different than rolling the dice in Las Vegas. Greedy speculators in a deregulated environment ran the futures of oil up that drove our economy to recession--not much different than a pyramid scheme that creates artificial value and the last person holding the bag loses! Easy credit given to unworthy credit risks inflated real estate values. Thank Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, along with others in a Democratic Congress that is manipulated and represented by special intersts groups--not the citizens that elect these professional politicians. This was a danger pointed out by Thomas Jefferson over 235 years ago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html
They've been fighting for seven years now, and I'm more harrassed by the TSA today than I was seven years ago. This "fighting for your freedom" seems to not have been very effective.
Do you remember 9/11? With freedom comes sacrifice. Has there been further attacks on U.S. soil? Where do you think the bad guys are?
This opinion will no doubt not be very popular among the bible thumping neocons among our ranks here, but let's call a spade a spade...troops are not fighting for our freedom...they're fighting to salvage any shred of respect this country has among the 94% of the world's population that isn't American...and to prevent the decision to pursue Hussein by the idiot we elected (twice) from ending up as a decision that defines America for a generation or more...e.g. Vietnam.
Did you support the war in the beginning?
Please don't discredit my brother's service by writing he fought for our freedom...because if that's the reason for his sacrifice, it was an effort that failed.
I disagree.
That should liven up the discussion around here a bit. Attack away with your Fox "News" ideologies (not directed at you personally, Speedtape, instead towards the masses that are sure to come as a result of my posting).
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