Big Dog on Berkeley

So you respect him because that's what he always wanted to do? If he always wanted to be a serial killer, you'd offer your respect still if he managed to attain that status?

You don't respect someone because they "always wanted to be something". You respect someone for the principles they hold and the career that fits with those principles. There is no value in becoming a soldier if the functional role of that soldier in the world isn't national defense and security. Whether dumb or willfully ignorant, the choice to be a soldier in today's political climate is not a principled one. It's those other things that I mentioned previously.

It's why I think it might be ok to not only be against the war, but against the individuals who are fighting it.

And no, I wouldn't say this except on a message board. I value my life, and wouldn't want someone who pretends to fight for liberty kicking my teeth in, telling me that I don't know what liberty is, and getting a pat on the back from his small-minded entourage.

 

Which makes you a coward in more ways than one ... who'd a thunk it?

 

Good Lord.

That's all I got. Wow.

 

Sig not for nothing but with that philosophy you will have more that just "liberty " fighters wanting to kick your teeth in. They might fall in line behind irate mothers of soldiers.

 

Asking again, Sig, how old are you? Just generally....under 25?

 

Actually I didn't. I was making a conceptual point that you deflected with hyperbole because you didn't want to deal with the concept behind my argument.

 

SigR is telling the truth.

He wasn't comparing a marine to The Unibomber. He was going more for a Zodiac KIller, or John Wayne Gacy, or perhaps Ed Gein vibe.

(Go ahead and look those names up, Sig).

 

Sig's writing really young here, but he is all around an interesting point.
Does "supporting the troops" always and forever mean supporting any action taken by the military in general, and individual soldiers/units in particular? If not, then what are the permissable boundaries of criticism, and should we even be talking about "permissable" bounds of criticism in a free society?

 

It'd do all of you well to stop hurling insults and witticisms and actually engage in debate if that's your purpose here.

 

The concept of your argument was that anyone joining the military today is unworthy of respect, because politicians have made a pattern of using the military for unworthy purposes.

It's a weak argument because you choose to deflect blame from where it belongs -- namely, the politicians who make those decisions -- and instead denounce the young men and women who choose that as a (very valid) career path and want to do their jobs well.

It's like blasting agate clerks for the fact that newspapers choose not to invest in their product and are laying off hundreds of employees. A completely worthless point.

And yes, you just compared a Marine to a serial killer, foof.

 

I'm not insulting you, I asked how old you are.

Are you aware that all American men ages 18-25 are still required to register with the Selective Service in case the government needs to reinstate the draft?

 

OK, buck
Was My Lai Calley's fault or McNamara's? Or both?
Remember, before you answer, that a pilot named Hugh Thompson was in exactly the same place at exactly the same time under exactly the same circumstances as Calley, and stopped the killing, drawing down on Calley's men to do so.