Digitus Impudicus

JB Lives!!

Even better, I now know exactly who he is. He prefers to remain safely anonymous so far – so I’ll respect that, considering that it’s now one of the few things about him I can respect at this point. Well, outside his blistering commentary and witty repartee (I especially enjoyed “stupid cocksucker” – there’s some real talent there).

You’ll have to see my response to some of his comments in the individual comments sections, but I thought it's now time for a new post, so I pulled one of his comments and will react here. But I’ll proceed with an understanding that JB is the person (a coworker) I referred to in a prior recent post – I hope that context carries over.

Enjoy them free pixels in the minority. Did ya get your kids off to see the recruiter yet? I hope you are enjoying your intense feelings of patriotism without having to sacrifice anything but principle. You are a flag-flapping shirker. Pathetic, frankly. JB

Yep, JB, my side is in the minority. Not particularly happy about it, either. In fact I had a few moments of irritation. What I didn’t do is run for Canada or seek therapy like your comrades did (like that? “comrades”? – make you feel nostalgic? Heh heh). I’m dealing with it, and entertaining myself with the tug and pull of politics as it exists now. Pelosi is an interesting figure, and the dynamic between the moderate Democrats and the anti-American Leftists that form the base of the Party is going to be a slugfest worthy of an HBO special. I’m heating up some popcorn even as I write this.

Unlike some (ahem!) I don’t hate my country when the people make a decision I disagree with. I may fault their decision-making, but I don’t fault the system that empowered them to decide. Neither do I assume they’re just uneducated bumpkins who would really do better under my more learned authoritarian rule (Emperor Ken was always intended as parody). And that’s pretty much the difference between you, dear “JB” and me: The people decide, and that’s what they get to do in this country. I respect that. What I don’t do is run to a judge to force my own will on the people.

Now, about this military issue you have with me. Let’s talk about that for a second. For one thing, your logic is full of – bovine scatology – because there are plenty of people with as much, or more, military service than you have, who agree with my point of view. So, it’d be just as easy for me to say, “military veteran X thinks Y, and I agree with him.” That would then remove your rather bizarre focus on the fact that I’ve never served in the military – unless of course even agreeing with somebody who disagrees with you is also out of bounds in your Robert Heinlein/Starship Troopers view of American politics where only people with a military record have a right to speak.

I’m sorry to disagree with you, but the Nazis lost that war – so the argument for that is just about concluded.

As for, “Did ya get your kids off to see the recruiter yet?” – well, what my kids choose to do with their careers is up to them. Unlike some, I don’t dictate the actions of my children, nor do I try to live my politics through them. That’d be Cindy Sheehan’s shtick. However, my son has expressed an interest in joining the Marines, and should he choose to follow through with that then I will support his decision. And if he joins up I will not insult him by referring to him as my “child” as is so often the shameful case when Democrats want to ape sympathy for our fighting men and women in the field.

Now, do I respect your service to our country? Yep, regardless of my current irritation with you, you will always have been the person who committed four years of your life to protect us. But a different and interesting question is whether you respect your service.

I don’t think you do. At least I don’t think you treat it with respect.

You use your service as a shield against those whose opinions differ from your own. You use your service as a means of trying to silence opposition. To you it’s a tool to “win” an argument, regardless of the inherent lack of merit in your philosophical position. It’s intellectual laziness tinged with rhetorical cowardice.

Somehow you’ve come to the belief that anybody with a military background (like you) is somehow exempt from criticism. Let’s have a look at that belief of yours.

Jack Murtha, Marine Corps: corrupt politician, caught on tape in the ABSCAM investigation, negotiating a payoff. Severely anti-military, including accusing our service people of committing cold-blooded murder prior to a trial.

John F. Kerry, Navy: Met with and attempted negotiations with the enemy during the Vietnam War while a Naval Reserve officer. Under the terms of the UCMJ, that is treason. He vilified our fighting personnel in Vietnam before Congress in 1972, accusing them of several war crimes with falsified evidence provided by people pretending to be veterans.

Lee Harvey Oswald, Marine Corps: Soviet sympathizer and assassin of President John F. Kennedy.

John Anthony Walker Junior, Navy: Spy for the Soviet Union.

Hasan Akbar, Army: Convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of two fellow soldiers in Kuwait during the run up to the 2003 Iraq invasion.

William Calley, Army: Lead the platoon primarily responsible for what became known as the My Lai Massacre, wherein several hundred unarmed Vietnamese civilians were slaughtered.

My point is not to disrespect the military here, but to point out that wearing a uniform, whether in the present or in (as with your case) the distant past, does not immunize one from criticism, and certainly does not exempt one from having to make an argument to support his point of view in the face of opposing viewpoints.

That you attempt to misuse your years of service as a rhetorical condom is shameful and unworthy. And it is a distinct disrespect to far better men than you – including other liberal Democrats – who continue to act honorably and do not attempt to cover their increasingly wide ass with a flag they once defended.

“JB” – you know very little about me. I have many friends who are also liberal veterans. I enjoy discussing politics with them because they are not hate-filled crazies like you’ve become. They disagree with me, take the time to put forward their arguments, and when we end up disagreeing at the end of it all, we’re still friends because we don’t disrespect each others’ intelligence – and rarely call the other a “stupid cocksucker.”

You lost that. And I didn't take that from you.