We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2010 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:44:03 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2012 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Sergeant Eddie Jeffers, via The New Media Journal. And to think, I volunteered for this... And I am ignorant to the rest of the world...or so I thought. But even thousands of miles away, in Ramadi, Iraq, the cries and screams and complaints of the ungrateful reach me. In a year, I will be thrust back into society from a life and mentality that doesn't fit your average man. And then, I will be alone. And then, I will walk down the streets of America, and see the yellow ribbon stickers on the cars of the same people who compare... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html Fri, 02 Feb 2007 07:36:55 -0600 At least Arkin hasn't -- yet -- blamed the war on the troops and Kerry, who *has* stated that they are "terrorizing" the Iraqi people (in a fashion reminiscent of Genghiz Khan?), hasn't -- yet -- blathered that they're out smoking dope and making mincemeat of the Geneva Convention on a daily basis. However, based on past experience, I won't be one whit surprised when the pompous twits do those very things. Arkin is the type who will walk down an alley in the 'hood at 3am just to exercise his Constitutional Right to do so. He then, after recovering consciousness, will scream for a cop -- whom he will promptly berate for not having prevented his being mugged. He then will bombard the precinct captain, the police chief, the mayor and the governor with letters denouncing the municipal police force as a pack of donut-munching graft-grabbers... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56159 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56159 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 22:40:45 -0600 Maggie – The sad truth is Liberalism is a belief system, the same as choosing to be Christian or Jewish, or whatever. However, unlike Christianity, which places it’s faith in the undisputed truth of the Empty Tomb; liberals place their blind faith in “truths” that have been disproved over and over; the most world-shaking disproof and disavowing of those “truths” was when we all saw Germans taking their sledge hammers to the hated wall (but liberalism won’t stay defeated unless good men and women ride out every day to rid the kingdom of the dragons). Since it is a belief system, everything they see is filtered through the lens of those beliefs, just as everything I see is filtered through the lens of Evangelical Christianity (with a lot of military experience thrown in). One of the basic tenets of modern liberalism (also referred to as Secular Progressives [SPs]) is the Marxist concept of: we are all either Bourgeoisie or Proletariat and all proletariats are victims and pawns of the Bourgeoisie. Therefore, if a person who is well-educated and rich decides to server the United States of American, that person is an unenlightened bourgeois brute. If a person decides to serve who is from the farms and small towns (fly-over people) and his/her family has a middle to working class income, then they are duped victims of the ruling class. If a person decides to serve, who is from the inner city and not white, then they are poor ignorant escapees from the ghetto. How can you use logic to argue with that kind of belief system? Especially when in the SP belief system, to suggest that any of the three aforementioned individuals were serving because they love their country, is considered heresy. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56119 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56119 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 08:45:41 -0600 This is the by-product of "Support the troops, but not the war" rhetoric. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56117 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56117 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 08:36:18 -0600 Excellent letter from SGT Jeffers. Unfortunately, it will fall on too many deaf ears. Bill Arkin's article illustrated how almost one half of America truly feels about this war and about the US military: The Arkins, Sheehans, Moores, et al first claim that only those serving in combat or who have lost loved ones in this "senseless" and "illegal" war have any right to voice an opinion on the subject. Anyone else who does is nothing more than a "chickenhawk", "Chairborne Ranger", or member of the "1st Keyboard Division". But as soon as active-duty military members serving in Iraq voice their opinion, and merely ask for the American public's support and understanding, the Arkins / Sheehans / Moores / Kerrys / academics condemn them as murderers and rapists, living opulent lifestyles with obscene amenities in the war zone. And HOW DARE THEY contradict our view of how this war is being conducted!!! Besides, 9/11 was not that big a deal, and did not justify all this war-mongering and oppression of innocent Muslims! America is a hateful, bullying, international pariah! http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56116 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56116 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 08:29:08 -0600 I respectfully disagree with the author regarding calling the young men and women in the military "boys and girls." These people, while young, are taking on very adult responsibilities. I contrast military people with those college students the same age who are still depending on their parents to pay all the bills or the 30 year old loser still living in his parents' house. I've known some 18 year olds in the military who grew up fast, ending up far more mature than a lot of 30+ year olds who never took responsibility for anything. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56115 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56115 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 08:20:23 -0600 This made me feel very sad and powerless. We write what we write, we say what we say. Some of us take more tangible action. I make bawdy jokes about my support of the troops. But in the end, I don't see us stemming the the flow of anti-war sentiment. Of protecting the military from the slings and arrows of the MSM and the moonbats. We will never change the minds of idiots who will use their precious freedom of speech to bash the very people that are willing to die to preserve it. I am angry when I listen to Sen. Dodd, Sen. Collins, Sen. Hagel, etc. But reading this just makes me sad. Still, it was well written and worth reading. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56114 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/hope_rides_alon.html#comment-56114 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 08:12:12 -0600