At first I took your line of attack (expatriates don't love America) as being just personal so I ignored it. The fact that you're bringing it up repeatedly means I need to once and for all explain something.
If you'd have asked me last week I'd have told you that I was not an expatriate, because I was home in Texas. An expatriate is someone who happens to be outside the country he was born in, like say, a soldier in Iraq. Deployed military love America and they are not "ex-patriots", people who are no longer patriotic. I can't imagine that you'd scorn these heroes upon their return like the 60's hippies did. Expatriate or no, it would be morally wrong
There's another greater problem with this attack besides the moral issue, it's one of security. Here are some pictures of three expatriates who failed to maintain adequate personal security and stayed overseas permanently:
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The three kidnapped missionaries, Dave Mankins, Mark Rich, and Rick Tenenoff, were working in the village of Pucuro, about 15 miles from the Panamanian border with Columbia. They were taken from the village into Colombia. According to the NTM website, on Sept. 10, 2001, members of NTM's Crisis Committee and the wives of Dave Mankins, Mark Rich and Rick Tenenoff agreed that, given the available evidence, it was time for a family closure to the 1993 kidnapping. [This is the 10th anniversary of the deaths; it might be nice to remember them in our prayers.] |
The Mankins family consists of Dave (Pictured), born in 1949, who was the oldest of the three hostages. He and his wife, Nancy have two children, Sarah and Chad. Both children have married while their father was held hostage. David, however, had no knowledge of this. Chad and his wife, Janeene are members of New Tribes Mission. Sarah and her husband, John (Skees) live in Sanford, FL. Dave and Nancy consider Jacksonville their U.S. home.
Mark Rich (Pictured), born in 1969, was the youngest of the three hostages. He and his wife, Tania were born abroad to American parents. Because they are both third generation missionaries, they have lived most of their lives overseas. Mark and Tania have two daughters: Tamra and Jessica. The family had lived in Pucuro for only six months before Mark was kidnapped. He and Tania were just beginning to study the Kuna culture and language. Mark was a hostage almost twice as long as he had been married to Tania.
The Tenenoff family is made up of Rick (Pictured), born in 1956, and his wife, Patti and their three children: Dora, Connie, and Lee. Just like the Rich family, two of these children were so young when their father was captured that memories of him are hard to recall. Rick and Patty have spent most of their lives in Florida, where their families still reside. The Tenenoffs arrived in Panama in 1986. Rick studied Kuna culture and language, wrote a Kuna dictionary and was teaching Bible studies.This thread has to do with whether the state should allow private citizens to buy and sell things to foreigners. Ordinarily I wouldn't mind going off topic bragging about my accomplishments, even if puts my own life at risk. After all, there's the quote: "Is it thy wish to die upon thy bed, or to shed thy life-blood on the dust, a martyr" --but this would go beyond off-topic to thoughtlessly selfish. I've no right to put my wife and kids at risk too. The group that claimed credit for the murders was a "group called December 20 Torrijist Patriotic Vanguard (VPT-20)". Same family name as Panama's current president.
I really enjoy our butting heads over trade topics --sometimes you're the only freeper that pings me. The admin folks try to pull posts that may pose a physical threat by prying into personal info, so if you stay on topic your comments won't get deleted.