Dear Mr Schuette,
Your purported apology is no better. Your condescension still comes through, despite your gritted teeth. Please take note: I am not a victim. I volunteered. I raised my right hand, and I did my duty for love of country, to honor my family, and to protect the things in which I believe.
I do not claim to be a hero, but I’ve been fortunate enough to serve with a few, and to know a few more. I know what a hero is, and I don’t need you, or anyone else to give me honor amongst them. But for someone who never served to call us who made that choice ‘victims’ is to claim you know more, or know better, or are somehow more enlightened or smarter than us, the poor misguided silly fools. You clearly have not been humbled, as you stated you had.
It’s ok to think you are right, as you clearly did when you posted your screed. So stand up, be a man, and defend your words. Defend your thoughts. Do what we did - put your hide on the line for what you believe. Don’t hide behind false humility while speaking faux apologies coated in condescension. We veterans, most of us anyway, don’t backtrack from what we believe. When the pay was poor, and the rent was coming due, when our finances were in jeopardy ... most of us muddled through, made sacrifices, and we held the line.
I believed you the first time, and I think you spoke from the heart. Now that your livelihood is at risk, you step back. You offer half apologies. You claim humility with words that tell another truth. So let me offer you a small slice of the truth I’ve learned in this life...
Backing away from what you believe in the face of criticism or financial risk is cowardice, and that my friend is also not the mark of a hero.
BnG
Post script: as for what I believe - even as an Annapolis man I believe MacArthur was right..........
Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government. ... the soldier above all others prays for peace. ... the American man at arms {is} one of the world’s noblest figures ... These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a ten-fold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.
great post!
Go Army....Beat Navy :)
What a shitty human. One doesn’t make his candle brighter by blowing out another’s candle. If Schuette is on meds, should he be selling guns? If not on meds and should be, should he sell guns? I’ll bet he has garnered the trust of many men and women in his store. I would guess he is a open book to all he knows and hears to BATF. He is a mess.