The Savage Republican

This op-ed from the LA Times has many folks up in arms today. Hugh Hewitt, specifically, is apoplectic over it, but then again, it doesn't take much out of the Times to set Hugh off. Many people in my political groups are expressing their "outrage".

"I DON'T SUPPORT our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car. Supporting the troops is a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on.I'm sure I'd like the troops. They seem gutsy, young and up for anything. If you're wandering into a recruiter's office and signing up for eight years of unknown danger, I want to hang with you in Vegas. "

That is the part that has fueled the outrage. However, hidden a couple of paragraphs later there is a refreshing bit of intellectual honesty that should not be ignored:

"But I'm not for the war. And being against the war and saying you support the troops is one of the wussiest positions the pacifists have ever taken — and they're wussy by definition. It's as if the one lesson they took away from Vietnam wasn't to avoid foreign conflicts with no pressing national interest but to remember to throw a parade afterward."

OH HAPPY DAY!!!! An honest leftist! Many soldiers, sailors and marines have said the same. Eagan's own Col. Joe Repya was on one of the KTLK programs this morning and he repeated "the troops will tell you that if you do not support the mission, they do not feel that you are supporting those of us carrying OUT the mission!" Friends of mine who have returned from "the big sandbox" have said the same thing, time and time again!

"I do sympathize with people who joined up to protect our country, especially after 9/11, and were tricked into fighting in Iraq. I get mad when I'm tricked into clicking on a pop-up ad, so I can only imagine how they feel. (ED - I have no idea what the heck he was thinking with this analogy - it makes no sense!)
But when you volunteer for the U.S. military, you pretty much know you're not going to be fending off invasions from Mexico and Canada. So you're willingly signing up to be a fighting tool of American imperialism, for better or worse. Sometimes you get lucky and get to fight ethnic genocide in Kosovo, but other times it's Vietnam. (ED - Well someone finally figured this out)
And sometimes, for reasons I don't understand, you get to just hang out in Germany. (ED here's a hint bucco.....it's because they are NEEDED there...) "

Give Mr. Stein credit - he faced the lion, by going on Hewitt's program this evening (transcript here). Realize though that you are talking about a 30 something who has never interacted with anyone serving in Iraq. He does not know the military mindset, he does not appreciate the military mindset. If you must send your protests to the LA Times, you should at least thank Mr. Stein for being honest and pressure him to get more honesty out of his fellow leftists. Maybe once they finally start being honest about their supposed "support" of the troops, then this will be a much redder country!