...and I should, perforce, add a disclaimer:

Everything I say in this post does not apply to anyone who ever voted "yes" on a mill rate increase or bond issue, or to anyone who believes that the solution to America's future lies in paying more taxes, for the right investments in America's people, not in giving bigger tax breaks to corporations and billionaires.

Got that? Okay, on with the rant...

I have had it up to the back teeth and beyond with parades.

I have reached the point where I want to retch when I hear bands playing service theme music, or loudspeakers braying out patriotic platitudes.

"Taps" fails to stir any pride; fluttery little flaggie things cause no lift of the heart.

The phrase "thank you for your service," particularly when uttered by those who clearly believe that they are paying too many taxes, brown people and poor people are slime-sucking parasites, and America's salvation lies in the Freefucking Market, makes me want to pound someone.

I wouldn't do it, of course, because I am (seriously! honest, I am!) a pacifist.


My Dad was a Marine.

I respect those of my fellow citizens who undertake the difficult and unrewarding (in the material sense) task of carrying out the grimy, violent, unspeakable end of America's foreign policy.

Just because someone enlists in the armed forces does not make them an unthinking accomplice to the slaughterhouse of failed diplomacy. Many intelligent, courageous, honorable and even idealistic individuals give up years of their lives and hand over their freedom in order to form the final barrier of flesh between their loved ones and the devastation of war.

I happen to disagree with many if not most of the decisions that result in those men and women being sent to do jobs that result in death and misery and destruction for others and, not infrequently, for themselves and their comrades. I happen to believe that the management of this nation's military resources has gone from poor to catastrophic in the last twenty years. I happen to deplore and oppose the extent to which our economy has become dependent upon the profiteering of the military-industrial complex.

But I still respect those who make sacrifices of their time, their talents, their freedom, their health and limbs and sanity and even their very lives for the ideals this nation was founded to uphold. (Whether it continues to uphold them is relevant, but not to the sacrifices these men and women have made, are making, every day, for me and my fellow-citizens.)

However.

It fills me with a soaring, incendiary maelstrom of rage that we can put on pretty parades and mouth speeches and hold sales to sell cheap plastic crap in the name of "honoring their service" or "remembering their sacrifice"...

...when we can't make the simple and comparatively painless sacrifice of paying enough taxes to provide decent medical care, family benefits, or keep our promises for educational benefits and other support to these same "heroes."

FUCK me. I see the Plaza on any given day, full of the vacant-eyed, abandoned wreckage of our military policy. I see the men and women making do with outdated prosthetic technology, with no resources for treating their PTSD, I see the families grieving the loss of suicided veterans, I see the shitty conditions disabled veterans are living in...

Because we, you and me, my fellow citizens, are willing to go along with the corporate fascists who want the endless profit stream of war, without having to pay the true and full costs of war. We're so damn' quick to holler "USA, USA, USA!" and applaud the uniforms, and chatter about how cool our military is and how we're gonna kick ASS "over there" wherever "there" may be, but when it comes time to ante up to pay the bills? Where are we then?

I'll tell you where we are, we're at some fracking bagger rally whinging about our crushing tax burden and how the "welfare" state is destroying our nation's giant intangible penis of power.

That's where we are.

And then, once a year, having left our veterans to their own devices, to inadequate care and broken promises, we toddle on down to the Mall or to some carefully-mown cemetary full of acres and acres of uniformly-spaced white markers to solemnly "honor" our servicemen and -women.

AND IT MAKES ME WANT TO PUKE.

That is all.

:rant:

disgustedly,
Bright

Because they're usually owned by some asshole who lusts for war, won't serve himself, and complains about taxes going towards veterans benefits.

Phony patriots, right up there with idiots who think flying a big ass flag on their porch makes them a great person, too.

but it also says "bring them home now."

Sounds pretty accurate to me. I see homeless veterans every time I go to Ventura and I feel the same way you do. All the flags and yellow ribbons and rah-rahs for the 'heroes', what do they mean? Just empty gestures as far as I can see. The yellow ribbons are gone, no one cares much about those men and women who came back and had to live with the horrors they witnessed, some unable to function and with, as you say, so little available to help them cope. The war FUNDS 'for the troops'?? Not so, for the War Profiteers.

What I would like Veteran's Day to be would be a day where Congress holds a special session to check on the status of those they sent to war and instead of voting on more funds for more war, for which there appears to be an endless supply of money, each year I would like to see them pass a funding bill for housing and health care and whatever else those veterans need.

My girlfriend's husband, a Marine, died a few years from cancer directly related to his combat experiences. On Veteran's day two years ago she received an eviction notice, her house was in foreclosure and she could not get them to renegotiate her mortgage after she lost her husband's income.

So, I don't see anything to disagree with in your OP.

Rec'd and :kick:

"What I would like Veteran's Day to be would be a day where Congress holds a special session to check on the status of those they sent to war and instead of voting on more funds for more war, for which there appears to be an endless supply of money, each year I would like to see them pass a funding bill for housing and health care and whatever else those veterans need. "

over simplification of an idea, just enough so you can polarize people.

After all... Who would be in favor of leaving children behind?

After all... Who wants to kill babies?

After all... Who wants LESS money in their pocket?

But the issue is complicated and nuanced.

These poor ignorant souls who bark the rhetoric of overtaxation are blinded to the fact that taxes are necessary to live in a unified society.

Yes there is wastefulness and abuse that has to be addressed. But burning down the house because there's a spot on the carpet is not the answer.

they are rather clueless when it comes to anything, like waving flags at a memorial parade yet demanding vets benefits and medical care get cut because it is a waste of tax payers dollars. Trying to explain hate speech is demeaning a minority or inciting violence to a group or person of a minority does not mean anyone calling a persons ideals stupid make it a hate crime. It is just 99% of their thinking is fear based and you can't get them beyond that fear, especially the fear of the unknown.

I think of what a veteran is differently then many people.

:shrug:

And I am due beer and travel money and many experiences.

:yourock:

K&R and thank you for saying it so well.

and I agree with every word you wrote except (and I'm now embarrassed to admit this) I do get a bit of a thrill when I hear a military band. It is not so much a pride kind of feeling as it is, and has always been, a kind of awe at the discipline and talent it takes to perform with such precision.

Really great rant! K&R

That was one righteous rant!

:yourock:

but they don't fill me with rage, they bore me. In my small town there is a volunteer committee and a couple of businesses usually sponsor them, so they don't cost the residents any money in taxes. The kids look forward to it (haven't figured out why)... it's just a "thing" to do.

Do you like fireworks?


:shrug:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096969/

and a few other notable anti-war movies --



The original anti-war movie -- "ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT" --

played on AMC yesterday, I think --

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020629/


and just as a reminder -- 80% of Americans want an end to these wars!!

All of us contain Music & Truth, but most of us can't get it out.

Mark Twain

Like your father, I was a Marine (actually there are no "ex-Marines", only Marines No Longer On Active Duty or "MNLOAD"s).

I've been thanked for my service ('74 - '78) and I always respond something like"

"There's no need to thank me, but if you feel you must, do so by making sure that all veterans get the medical and psychiatric care that they need."

I wouldn't say the pledge of allegiance or salute the flag anymore. It's not my flag. When we stop torturing and killing people around the world and can manage to head up our Dept of Injustice with someone other than that feckless fool, Eric Holder, then maybe I'll reconsider. Until then they can all eff themselves.

That's my contribution, this Memorial(sic) Day. :(

A heartfelt k&r.

"SUPPORT THE TROOPS" is, with few exceptions, an empty platitude for people who think patriotism consists of sending our young people in uniform to be maimed or killed for a pack of lies issued by the servants of the military industrial complex.

If we really wanted to say THANK YOU for your SERVICE we wouldn't call on them to make sacrifices for anyting less than legitimate need, and afterwards we would ensure the best possible care for their wounds both physical and mental.

You have brilliantly stated righteous truths.

K&R

completely.

I hate to see these teenaged women and men having to join the military so to be able to get a damn job.

War is a racket....and the War Boyz are selling death and destruction to both sides.

Hell, the wars of today are, IMHO, Resource Wars. Planet Earth has only so many Resources.

Sustainable and renewable is the way to go, but da boyz can't make $$$$ on that.

Memorial Day is just plain depressing. Thank you for your rant.

96 recs. so far, and this thread has five stars!

Where are the parades for the pacifists? All those people that saved thousands of lives by preventing or ending needless wars.

Thanks for the post. Now I can take a guilt free nap.

Patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings.

(BTW, Cheney's pic is the dictionary illustration I'd choose for 'scoundrel' these days.)

join with women to make that happen --

Good points, all.

I especially like this from Sabrina 1 in Post #3 upthread.


THAT would be an excellent way to Support the Troops!

thanks for your rant, it mirrors my own feelings exactly!

Cause that's how much I agree with you.

I still cry when I hear TAPS. Can't help it.

It makes me doubt that they have ever really been in one.

"The nicest veterans in Schenectady, I thought, the kindest and funniest ones, the ones who hated war the most, were the ones who'd really fought."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

I've had it with patriotic platitudes.

if everyone who can take time to go to parades would go paint one wall in a VA hospital, every goddamn room in this country would have fresh paint!

I know that for most people I am off putting but I LOATHE this lip service. Very few Americans actually _support_ my troops.

I would like to ask nicely, what did you do to make a tangible difference this year for troops or vets? Very likely nothing. I guess thats ok...but it aint support.

My Army has shouldered an almost unbearable burden this last decade with crushing operational tempo. That should keep you up at night.

If you all could only know what magnificent people most of them were.

Rest in Peace. Brothers, Sisters, Black, white, gay, straight. I could give a fuck. A good soldier is not bound by those labels.

SGT P

And these you can do without even leaving the comfort of your homes:

Send $10 to Fisher House Foundation: http://www.fisherhouse.org/

Read a good book aloud and record it on a CD. Label it, and send it to your nearest VA hospital: http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/division_flsh.asp?dnum=1

TAKE AN INTEREST: Visit the AFNS, learn about where they are and what they're doing: http://www.usafns.com/email.shtml

And finally and MOST IMPORTANT:

Write an actual letter, ON PAPER, that meets the following criteria:

• No more than one page
  
• Hand written or at least hand signed
  
• Include your name and address
  
• Note that you support the full funding of quality health care for active duty, reserve, and veteran service members
  
• Request that your Congressional Representative support such funding, as well as full funding for veterans' benefits

Mail it with an actual stamp to your Congressional Representative: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt

encouragingly,
Bright

thanks for that follow up.

and differentiate yourself from the less gifted, less perceptive masses.

It's painful to stand out, I know, but some bright people have to do it or there is no evolution.

Thank you for speaking your mind.

I have been thoroughly disgusted with this faux patriotism for quite some time myself.

A)The rampant anti-intellectualism, and
B)The military fetish.

Most of them want to earn a "free education." Little do they know that the price they will have to pay is eternal.

"Your Flag Decal Can't You Into Heaven Anymore, by, JOHN PRINE, sums it up pretty damned well.

Because you're right.