Okay, okay, so I'm in a bad mood this afternoon. Maybe it's because there are only 25 democrats in the senate. Maybe it's because there IS no more Democratic party. Maybe that has nothing to do with my foul mood. Maybe I'm angry 'cause my drinking water is contaminated by oil industry additives that cause cancer. Maybe not. Maybe my brain's pickled in Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether (MTBE). I don't know and I don't care.
So maybe it's not a good time to read about the 50,000 GI's being retained in the military by the Pentagon's "stop loss" program. This policy is being applied to soldiers in units due to deploy for Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to the story I read, some GI's are disputing the fairness of this. But--and here's the big but..."court challenges have fallen flat". Please note, to those who have challenged the Pentagon's stop loss program and lost, don't expect it to get better. The courts are being stacked against you. Tomorrow's senate vote will be just another step towards cementing your vanished avenues of justice.
Now while I'm sympathetic to those in the armed services that are getting tired of rotating in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan so fast they're dizzy, I have to say, this is what you do when you enforce the policies of fascists. So buck up and just try to do your sworn duty, even if you already have--but it just wasn't enough to suit Uncle Sam. Remember, you live in the greatest, free-est nation on Earth. And remember, you're a volunteer of the armed forces of that nation. So if your enlistment is up, but you can't leave, well, just know the rest of us back home are making our own sacrifices for the Motherland in our nation's drive for global dominance.
And forgive me if I continue to repeat it over and over on these pages, but while you're out there, convoying down some Iraqi road, subconsciously praying the next IED exploded in the world's newest democracy doesn't go off under your vehicle, remember the words of Henry Kissinger, "Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy."
Maybe your government will decide for you you'll make a career out of the military. Maybe they already have!
5 comments:
I sure hope today's soldiers are listening to vets like you who know & can speak their language. Stop Loss = Draft, pure & simple, the only difference is you have sign up in the first place. But I wonder if it really is a free choice when for so many it offers the only way out of vicious poverty. Toward which, the latest solution being proposed for curtailing our sky-high deficit is to reduce govt entitlement programs! Not reducing defense spending or taking back tax-cuts for the wealthiest ... no, so much easier to gut social security or vet benefits. D.K.
As always, DK, thank you for your comments. I wrote this blog in anger and I appreciate your clarifications that a 'hot head' often rushes past.
Yes, I'm very upset with circumstances. Many of those reaping the results (the GI's) of a few hustlers now controlling things have lost control of their own destinies.
Trying to dig themselves out of poverty, or gain access to costly higher education now find themselves enslaved to the oppression of a nation who's noble motive is to free the world from oppression!
Oh sweet irony!
A truly upsetting time; your anger is justified. And to top it off, I had to hear that Cindy Sheehan was arrested & removed from the gallery just before Bush SOTU tonight. Her crime was wearing a T-shirt that said "2245 Dead - How Many More?" For this she was handcuffed & charged with unlawful conduct. Do our soldiers realize this is the kind of freedom they are fighting for? D.K.
Thanks DK....we had heard Cingy was busted, but didn't know why. Now we do. She expressed an unlawful opinion.
My wife says making Cindy Sheehan into a caricature...a comic character...is the official speaking point of the party. She concluded this after watching talking head Chris Matthews trash her just before the SoTU speech.
I don't doubt it. Heil to the emperor!
Your wife has pinned them perfectly. What they can't combat with lies they will attempt to trivialize. But the nerve of Chris Matthews with his big ol' Charlie Brown head to make comic remarks about such a brave soul. D.K.
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