Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Fine Line
Go to T.F. Boggs, Bored Soldier! If you spent your day on the “innernets” surfing elsewhere, and didn’t go see this guy, rest assured you could have spent it better. He’s on his second deployment, voluntarily, which makes him a hero in my book.
And in his latest post he makes me think. He starts out saying something with which I personally disagree, and by the time he’s done I’m persuaded toward his point-of-view. YES, it can happen. You guys from work, and all you ex-wives, you just shut up m’kay?
Many patriotic Americans want to say that it is impossible to support the troops while not supporting the mission they are currently undertaking. They think if you argue against the war there is no possible way that you can possibly appreciate the work soldiers do day in and day out. I disagree. I know my saying this will probably anger more than a few of my readers but bear with me and consider my reasoning.
Not too long ago I was a subscriber to this train of thought. I often wondered how people could support what we were doing if they thought what we were doing was wrong. It sounded like a logical impossibility to me. There is no way I could support someone while they continued to do something that I wholeheartedly disagreed with. That would be like supporting Nazi soldiers at concentration camps who didn�t necessarily agree with what they had to do but did it anyway because they were commanded to. How could anyone do such a thing?
Over the past couple of weeks though, I have come upon two individuals that have changed my opinion: Ben Stein and Cher.
Like any thought that brings new value to a somewhat moldy contemplative process, Sergeant Boggs cuts a fine line but it’s a line worth cutting. His litmus test is…
What makes Mr. Stein�s and Cher�s disapproval of the war while at the same time applauding the troops okay in my book is their unwillingness to undermine the war effort. There is a difference between disagreeing with the war on reasonable (or not so reasonable in most cases) grounds and disagreeing with the war while at the same time providing aid and comfort to the enemy like so many people do when they publicly denounce the war and America for fighting it.
So if I can rephrase where he’s going with this: It is okay to support the troops while opposing the mission, so long as you are supporting the troops as well as the goals of the mission, or at the very least, not actively working against the goals of the mission — limiting your opposition to the policy that results in the engagement of the mission, and perhaps the tactics of the mission.
Once you go beyond the reasonable territory to which Ben Stein and Cher have respectfully limited themselves, and start to undermine the objectives of the mission, actively, passively, or simply by lending your celebrity name to others who would undermine it — you’re in a whole different ball game. At that point, you can’t support the troops, and remain logically consistent. At that point…well, the Sergeant says it best.
…when you cross the line like Code Pink and ANSWER have done you are no longer a supporter of the troops: you are a corroborator with terrorists and are just as responsible for the blood of Coalition soldiers as those who pull triggers and lob mortars.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.