Posted on 09/18/2008 10:16:26 AM PDT by Timeout
Well, I have an ugly confession to make: I don't support the troops - at least not unconditionally. When somebody tells me they serve in the military, my first impulse isn't to say, "Thank you for your service!" like those insufferable chickenhawks on talk radio.
My first impulse is to say, "I'm sorry to hear that." Because I am. I'm sorry to know that the person I'm talking to might someday be maimed or killed on the job, or might someday kill someone else. Or refuel a plane that drops bombs on buildings.
I can't see how anyone who calls himself or herself Christian - or human, for that matter - wouldn't be sorry.
The fact that we have an army, that we need an army, is inherently tragic. It's an admission that our species is still ruled by fear and aggression.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
I've long believed the liberals' creed should be: "IF WE DIDN'T HAVE AN ARMY THERE WOULD BE NO WARS"
You see, ruthless dictators don't cause wars. Genocidal rebels don't cause wars.
No----ARMIES cause wars.
Must be nice being a lib. Life is so simple!
An honest liberal. Refreshing. But ultimately the reason we can't have liberals running the executive and legislative branches of our government.
The fact that anyone over the age of 12 could utter such nonsense is inherently tragic. It's an admission he's never picked up a history book.
Some of the comments are priceless.
Those who beat their swords into plowshares wind up plowing for the men who kept their swords.
To paraphrase George Orwell, gentle people sleep peacably in their beds anight because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
I love that quote and use it often. On another note some bimbo wrote a letter to a local paper that people should vote by social security number and those who support Republicans and the war should be made to pay for it. What this jerk forgot was, that recording votes via SS Number would place a huge tax burden on libs and dummocrats especially since they are so fond of useless programs.
And buying the Boston Globe supports idiots who make no contribution to society. Plus, every time one of Almond's books are purchased a kitten dies.
I never heard a liberal complain about the brutality of communists dictatorships. In fact, they seem to worship the dictators. Ever heard a lib criticize Cuba, N. Korea or the direction Venezuela is headed?
This is the same kind of liberal dipshit that would salute Hitler and applaud Imanutjob in Iran. They leech off the freedoms that our military provides us and are a scourge of American society. What do you want to bet, this loser is on welfare?
This is the same type of person who thinks true communism would work....It won’t work for the same reason we need armies....
Human Nature......GREED....
Eliminate humans is the only way to end war...*L*
I’d love to buy government a la carte. Please give me every penny the government spends on education back, please, and give me a double order of missile defense, with extra VA benefits on the side.
“Must be nice being a lib. Life is so simple!”
There’s an old saying that sums it up even better:
“Ignorance is bliss!”
Only the ignorant would claim that no military would be a good thing. Soon after, the United States would cease to exist, I have no doubt.
A similarly dangerous idea is one of NObama’s centerpieces (NYT headline):
“Obama to Urge Elimination of Nuclear Weapons “
Absolutely dangerous and irresponsible thinking. What does the fool think PREVENTED World War III? Further, why would he think that every other nation on the planet would, forever more, refrain from secretly building nuclear weapons to destroy America?
NObama MUST NOT BE ELECTED!
McCain/Palin ‘08!
Yes, and if we could do away with everything from the death ray to the common club, man would never kill man again, and we could all sit around and rub a little fuzzy animal. How quaint. Everyone who doesn’t think like them must be a dumb Republican.
Valuable insight into their anti-gun ideology...if no one had guns there would be no murders. People like this live in a fantasy world b/c theyre too cowardly/lazy to live in the real one.
The US army causes war.
The police cause crime.
Doctors and hospitals cause disease.
The fire department is the cause of fires.
Etc.
The author is factually correct here. But he offers no alternative in a world where fear and aggression do indeed still rule our species.
Most people are sheep. Some are wolves. Luckily, we have a few who are sheepdogs and protect the sheep from the wolves. The author's solution is to disarm the sheepdogs.
If this piece is an example of the author's typical writing it certainly explains the title of his essay collection.
This absolutely worthless turd Steve Almond should kiss the ground any American serviceman walks on. Its who keeps his seditious yellow-belly rear end safe to publish his drivel in the Glob.
I would have loved having his ass as a draftee. I would have made him a BAR man in a fire team.
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