Comment of the day

Earlier today, I wrote about the “hate the troops” screed written by World Can’t Wait anti-war activist Kevin Theisen in the Berkeley Daily Planet. It prompted this response from Professor Blather. I agree with his assessment of Theisen and his honesty, but be sure to read the entire post.

After listening to this sort of empty, soulless propaganda far too many times in recent years … I finally decided to do something about it. At the ripe old age of 38 and 14 years after leaving the Marine Corps, I’m currently in the process of joining our local National Guard unit. As a commissioned officer this time. Infantry.

If all goes well, by the end of the summer I’ll be a shiny new (yet rather old) second lieutenant. And the unit is deploying in 2009, probably to Iraq, maybe to Afghanistan.

I’m scared. And honored. Worried. Proud. Angry. Happy. All sorts of mixed emotions. But all I know for sure is that 18 months from now, I’ll probably be in the streets of Baghdad, an attorney and writer pretending to be a soldier, with not so pretend bullets and bombs pointed my way.

Yesterday, I spent the entire day at our local MEPS. That’s the Military Enlistment Processing Station for those who don’t have fond memories of such places. (That’s sarcasm, by the way. I have nightmares of my first trip there). But it was different this time. I knew what I was doing. More to the point, I’m older, wiser, removed from all the teenage angst and emotion … so I got to sit back and watch all these young kids.

All these young kids volunteering to go do the fighting. Standing up willingly to become the targets, not only of our enemies abroad, but targets of the simple-minded stupidity of people like those in Berkeley.

The kids I saw yesterday were the ones this gentleman doesn’t support. They’re his mass murderers, his cogs in the killing machine.

And I have just two comments:
1. He’s wrong. He couldn’t be more wrong. These kids are rough, sometimes uneducated, some have lived hard lives … but they’re good people. Your pride in them is well placed. This man is simply wrong. He does not know what he’s talking about. I can forgive his ignorance. He’s just too dumb to know better.

2. And I appreciate his honesty. He is an ignorant, traitorous bastard … but he’s both honest and right in his assessment of “support the troops, not the war.” If you hate the President, if you’re in Code Pink, if you march and protest … you do NOT support me. So quit pretending. The truth is better than the lie.

I’m honored to have the opportunity to go be part of what this man hates. I don’t mind dying for his right to spew such ignorance. But if I can forgive his stupidity, perhaps he can forgive my enormous pride in my country and in the young men who fight for it.

Professor Blather on March 13, 2008 at 11:31 AM

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