Sheldon Richman is no hero.
I was thinking of getting a “Reason” subscription.
Not now.
Moral equivalence: Moral equivalence is a form of equivocation often used in political debates. It seeks to draw comparisons between different, often unrelated things, to make a point that one is just as bad as the other or just as good as the other. It may be used to draw attention to an unrelated issue by comparing it to a well-known bad event, in an attempt to say one is as bad as the other. Or, it may be used in an attempt to claim one isn't as bad as the other by comparison. Drawing a moral equivalence in this way is a logical fallacy.
Folks....why comment on commentary that means little or nothing at all!!! The proof in the pudding is so evident it sinks the “Obama vermin verbage” immediately. It’s called $316,000,000.00 USD revenue worldwide for the film “American Sniper” in three weeks of wide screen release!!! End of Story!!!
If it sounds like a leftist douchebag, and walks like a leftist douchebag, and smells like a leftist douchebag, then it is a leftist douchebag.
Joss Whedon once said, “The thing about a hero, is even when it doesn’t look like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, he’s going to keep digging, he’s going to keep trying to do right and make up for what’s gone before, just because that’s who he is.” Well, that’s who Chris Kyle was. He was a flawed individual in his own way, like just about everybody is. But that does not discount the courage he showed in tour after tour in Iraq, or marginalize the hundreds or thousands of troops he saved through his actions.
This is libertarian mainline thought. Not as nasty as Wrong Paul’s diatribes against our troops back in ‘91 and ‘92, but still typical.
The Libertarians on this board will do what liberals always do. Lie, and claim it doesn’t matter. The only issue the libertarian party is conservative on is taxation. In every other area they line up with the hard left. Military included.
(Published: October 14, 2014)The Secret Casualties of Iraq’s Abandoned Chemical Weapons
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?
(Published: Nov 14, 2014)
More Than 600 Reported Chemical Exposure in Iraq, Pentagon Acknowledges
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/07/world/middleeast/-more-than-600-reported-chemical-weapons-exposure-in-iraq-pentagon-acknowledges.html?_r=1
“A nation that does not honor it’s warriors will be defeated by one that does.”
Another reason the Libertarians are utterly insignificant EXCEPT as a force to sink conservative candidates from time to time. But in the battle against liberalism? Meaningless.
I think it is indisputable that leftists/liberals/DemocRATS hate America.
Yet another commie liberal head explodes.
Guess that would let some of the air out of his argument...
Wow this is stunning. Comparing Adam Lanza to Chris Kyle. Sheesh.
It’s irrelevant how or what one believes about the Iraq war, whether it had no justification or it did, it’s irrelevant to whether or not Kyle was a hero. The fact is he *did* save American lives (remember, his fellow soldiers were/are also Americans too). It doesn’t matter if he was fighting an unjust war he was a soldier doing what he was told. It’s not his job to decide if the war is just or not it’s his job to follow orders (within the bounds of moral law, and there’s no evidence he broke that).
To deny Kyle is a hero, and to liken him to the psychotic killer Adam Lanza is precisely the same disgustingly cruel way this country treated Vietnam veterans returning home from that war, denying their heroism and calling them names such as “baby killers”. That was wrong then, and this is wrong now, for the same reason.
I thought this country had grown past such lunacy, had come to realize every person in the military is honored and cherished for their bravery and selflessness, without question or consideration of politics. I guess I was wrong.
I am a 12 year veteran, VFW member, and small “l” libertarian.
The idiot who wrote this is more liberal than libertarian. Back in the late 90’s the “libertarian” movement was taken over by leftists.
I would address this issue in this way:
Military members in our country have historically stayed out of politics and have been respected by both sides. That respect would last until the Vietnam War, of course, when the communist/socialist fomented anti-western leftist movement bloomed openly in our country. Then it became okay to use service members openly as pawns in political arguments and to set them up as the bad guys, as if they started the war and made the decisions.
As a serviceman who has looked over a gun at an enemy, I thought about the responsibilities of my actions and the line at which a decision is ethical or not. Just following orders does not cut it when one acts in an unethical way. Of course, at the same time you have to carry out the lawful orders in support of the goals of the civilian government of our country. That tension between right and wrong is at times palpable as anyone who has had to face it understands.
The leftists, including the leftists who have become the power base in the Libertarian Party, have again conflated the actions of service members ethically doing their jobs with the poor decisions of civilian leaders. Those same leftists are making a grave error because in doing so they alienate the military and make it more likely that the military will support such actions as moving against civilians or civilian government in our country in the future. Dragging the military and service members into politics is a mistake of monumental proportions.
As far as these wars in the ME go, I would have thought we would have been better served if we had gone in with a smaller footprint, and prepared the playing field ahead of time (SpecFor). Middle Easterners understand raw force, but they operate deceptively in their day to day lives. There were plenty of opposition forces that could have been stood up to destabilize the Iraq government and create a vacuum for another force to fill. That is all that can really be accomplished in their primitive culture. Then you use your overwhelming force to remind them that you will do the same to them if they misbehave.
As far as Afghanistan goes, treating distinct tribes/peoples as if they are a country is just foolish. Determine who is to blame for an act, bomb their village to rubble and let the goats take over. Rinse, repeat as necessary. You cannot successfully civilize primitives such as their tribes.
Oh, and bottom line is that Chris Kyle and all those others who went and did their jobs and are still doing it are heroes.
Reason magazine just lost all credibility with this article.