Here's a thought, well a rant really:
Yesterday was Memorial Day, but what does that really mean? I visited the gravesite of friend to pay my respects, and on the way home I got caught in traffic around one of the sprawling malls that are cropping up everywhere nowadays. Some guy cut me off then blessed me with the universal gesture so he could get to Wally World 15 seconds sooner. Got home, went to bed, turned on Larry King. Was he interviewing a service member, or the family of a service member?
No, just a bunch of self indulgent circle jerking with Kimberly Dozier, who was apparently so badly injured she can't even feign sympathy for the soldier and camera crew who died in the blast that brought her so much lens time. I guess I am starting to truely internalize what I have been churning over for a long time:
Americans on the whole don't give a flying fuck about their military.
They could do away with the Department of the Army, and it would still be upstaged by Dancing with the Stars, or whatever other vapid, worthless shit people are using to escape from reality. But why should anyone care? The vast majority has no stake in the current conflict what-so-ever. A vast majority of people in the military come from poor families, and who gives a shit about them, unless they are in front of you in line with one of those uncomfortable "My son is in the Marines" t-shirts on.
I suppose I am being overly critical, most people would probably like to see the war end if for no other reason than lowering this crushing tax burden, Oh wait, that's right, what sort of fantasy world do I live in where we raise taxes to pay for a war?
I woke this morning to see that Cindy Sheehan had quit the anti-war movement. Now I never really liked her. I thought her heart was in the right place, but her actions sometimes crossed the line. She wrote:
Quote:
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I have tried ever since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives.
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Her statement says a lot about how much she finally gets it even though she still doesn't get it. Her son did die for something: He died for his comrades, which is far more noble than any cause some politician could ever come up with. She is dead on about the rest.
Now I'm just rambling. I'll sum up my position in three words: Service despite contempt.
PS if this is inappropriate for this thread I'll start another one.