Warriors and wusses-Why I DON'T SUPPORT our troops. (Barf alert-LA TIMES)

LA Times.com ^ | 24 JAN 06 | Joel Stein

[DCBryan1]

Warriors and wusses I DON'T SUPPORT our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car. Supporting the troops is a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on.

I'm sure I'd like the troops. They seem gutsy, young and up for anything. If you're wandering into a recruiter's office and signing up for eight years of unknown danger, I want to hang with you in Vegas.

[EGPWS]

Warriors and wusses I DON'T SUPPORT our troops.

Now I understand why I have never heard of Joel Stein.

He doesn't have a way with words.....

[EGPWS]

This guy is an "honest liberal" if there is such a creature.

He's an oxymoron.

[EGPWS]

It's better than the anti-war people who insist that they support the troops.

Nice try, who Isn't "antiwar" in a civilized sense?

[BriansDad]

I was stunned when I read Joel Stein’s opinion piece "Warriors and Wusses". Mr. Stein is so typical of the unthinking, uncaring, uninvolved pseudo-Americans we hear from too much of late. I would be angry if I didn't find his misconceptions, misstatements and misinformation so pitiful. So, be against the war, Mr. Stein. You are putatively an American, you are entitled. Ignore the fact that 27 million people are free for the first time in their lives. Ignore that a despot who was responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents and the rape and torture of tens of thousands more is finally gone. Ignore that a government that was at the least accommodating to terrorists (some of which attacked this country resulting in the death of a couple thousand of your countrymen) and at the most actively supporting those terrorists with training camps, funds and weapons is now gone. Ignore that there is now, for the first time in history, a truly democratic Arab nation. I assume you feel none of these facts are of value. I assume you remain against the war. This is America, you are entitled. (of course you wouldn't be entitled had you lived in the Iraq of four years ago, but don’t let that small fact discomfort you). Failing to support the troops is not at all difficult. All you had to do was write a column. They, on the other hand, stand up to support their country, putting their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor on the line. You scoff at them and their acts and then admit that you have NEVER put yourself on the line for this country. You have been content to stand to the rear when needs were great. How pitiful. These young men and women have sacrificed greatly for their country. They not only deserve our support, they deserve our admiration and our eternal gratitude. Because they are fighting in Iraq, our enemies are expending their energy and resources there, rather than on the streets of Los Angeles, or Dayton, or Boston or a thousand other cities in the United States. I'm sure that's not of consequence to you, though if it comes, we can all be sure that you will be hiding and crying for someone to help you. And, in case you doubt my bona fides, my grandfather served in World War I, my father in the occupation troops after World War II, my three brothers and I in the military (one brother was career Army), and I served as a reserve police officer in both Los Angeles and Gardena. Make light of those back here at home who show their feelings by putting magnets and bumper stickers on their cars, so that the world can know that they honor and support our troops. I am one of those people. I have a bumper sticker that says "Power of Pride"; with an American flag. I have another that says "Proud Parent of a Soldier". I have another that says "Freedom is Not Free";. And I have another that says "In Loving Memory SGT Brian Wood KIA Tikrit, Iraq 04/16/2004". Brian was my son, killed in action defending this country, helping make a people free, and being an American in the finest way possible; in the service of his country. President Franklin Roosevelt said "He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live, and grow, and increase its blessings. Freedom lives, and through it, he lives; in a way that humbles the undertakings of most men." My son was such a man, and I am so very proud of him. You, sir, are less.

[EGPWS]

I would be angry if I didn't find his misconceptions, misstatements and misinformation so pitiful.

Fear not, most are not angry....

[paul51]

Seriously, the traffic is insufferable

Try a few months on a battle field. Heroic warriors are making sacrifices that this self centered candy ass could never comprehend. She doesn't like it but she is happy to have all the benefits of safety, security and liberty they defend. Sickening and typical LA times type thinking.

[EGPWS]

Probably got "bullied" all through high school.

And most likely totes a feeling of understanding the terrorist's mindset because of his High School experience.

And some wonder why the LA times is in a financial demise these days.

[Checkers]

Related thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1564299/posts

[muleskinner]

Great candidate for a letter to the editor...of course, they'll chop it up to make you, the author, look foolish. But still, a great candidate.

[SAMS]

"I knew it was a matter of time before somebody finally wote what they were too afraid to say in public. A few gold nuggets in here, but this guy seems to have a limited view on how world events effect his daily life. He also has a distorted view on why citizens serve in the military, but then everyone has attempted to analyze and stereotype servicemembers for decades without realizing that each person's reason is different from the next. Either way, enjoy the article"

The above quote is what I received from a very good friend of mine, at COL in the Marine Corps. and it's true, there are a few "gold nuggets" in here. Granted Stein may not agree with everything we stand for, but at least he's got more guts than all the other libs who have spewed on CNN/NBC/ABC/CBS and all the the other LSM outlets.

[finnman69]

Joel is being honest. He admits to being a walking turd.

[finnman69]

Walking Turd Joel Stein

[Drango]

I feel like flying down to LA and slappin' this guy across the face.

[Drango]

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

John Stuart Mill
English economist & philosopher (1806 - 1873)

[SupplySider]

But when you volunteer for the U.S. military, you pretty much know you're not going to be fending off invasions from Mexico and Canada. So you're willingly signing up to be a fighting tool of American imperialism, for better or worse.

I wouldn't call this fellow an honest liberal. His ideas come straight from Mao's little red book. He's a dishonest communist.

[thoughtomator]

I have to give him props for having the guts to come out and say it rather than be nauseatingly hypocritical about it.

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

I would send him to Iraq with a sign around his neck saying "Muhammed was a camel-humper."

[Darkwolf377]

I'd send him to any of a number of US military bases with a sign around his neck reproducing this column. Let's see how &^%$ing brave this self-proclaimed rich-boy is then.