Well, you’re a better man than I.
Getsmart64, even if you don’t want or need an apology from me I’d be happy to give you one any day of the year if you thought I was dishonoring you or your service. The men and women who have been willing to sacrifice so much for this country deserve - and have - nothing but my respect, gratitude, and support.
I believe that the way Lakin’s case has been handled is a stain on the honor of the military as an institution, and the noble men and women who have served honorably deserve much, much better than this. That’s what I meant to say. It is because I honor the genuine heroes in the military so MUCH that this bothers me so.
“I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me, and I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today. No, there ain’t no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA!”
The men who died to give the right of freedom to us all deserve better than to have those who sacrifice life, limb, wealth, and their sacred honor be deprived of their Sixth Amendment rights by those who, like them, have sworn to protect and defend the US Constitution.
If we break faith with those who die they shall not sleep, though poppies blow in Flanders Fields - or though we salute them as they pass. The greatest way I know to honor those heroes is to “take up the quarrel with the foe”, and what the military officers are sworn to protect and defend - and what I will also protect and defend with every power that I have - is the US Constitution, which requires the rule of law not of men.
This isn’t just filling a page with “nothing”, like a deranged lunatic. The Constitution and the rule of law are not trifles. They are the very substance of this nation. I will apologize for using offensive words that didn’t express myself well - and I’m so thankful for those who either don’t need the apology or who accept it graciously - but I will never apologize for defending the Constitution and rule of law.