— ...but all this glee and drama and tearing down of some people...
There is a heavy military presence here at FR—JR himself was Navy (not just in the Navy). These people understand, deeply, the meaning of duty, honor, and commitment. To them these aren’t just high-sounding words, but life experiences you and I cannot understand because we, thanks to them, were not there.
Sun Tzu, who wrote the primer on things military 2500 years ago said, in effect, that a good leader cannot be too attached to his people or it will become a weakness. Neither can he be too distant or they will not follow. He must walk a fine line somewhere in between those extremes.
Sometimes, in the line of duy, for various reasons, friends are lost: transfer, discharge, or the inevitable. They did their duty and we must do ours. The mission goes on.
I imagine Jim sees FR as a mission. While there may be pain associated with the loss of some members, duty and the mission come first.
Besides, this isn’t death, just a dishonorable discharge.
What about all the glee? I’ve heard that those who’ve survived intense combat sometimes experience a period of euphoria because they have looked death in the eye-socket and survived! (Several military units use images of skulls in their emblems, in part, for this reason.) Mourning and guilt often follow. Be patient with both phases.
If they stand to do it, how can we not stand to support them?
Good analogy.
Wow.
Eh, I don’t see how the “glee” portion makes any sense. In the military context, the survivors were facing combat against the same force as their fallen brothers and sisters. They all had a similar chance of death. In this context, the ‘survivors’ never did anything worthy of being banned. They aren’t comparable situations.