1/20/2003: Violent "peace" protestors

[richlevy]

Originally posted by Undertoad

If the shit really hit the fan, here's guessing most of these mental midgets would quickly soil their shorts and dive into the nearest Starbucks for physical cover, hoping to find the biggest possible SUV to drive out of the worst trouble... again, all irony-proof. What can you say about people who believe that by turning over newspaper boxes they are "targetting the corporate media"?

Of course, one solution to this is to draft them, send them to basic training to teach them physical and mental discipline and respect for this country and its institutions, then, when they have become 'all that they can be', take these improved individuals and get them killed in a battlefield thousands of miles away for what may be other than a 'clear and present danger' which is supposed to be the definition for risking American lives. I still can't defend mindless violence, but I can understand the anger which motivates them, I just can't understand what's motivating the establishments actions.

Sorry, but my son just turned 17 yesterday. While I doubt he will ever volunteer, I have a vivid imagination and can picture the US getting in over it's head and reinstating the draft, especially after recent decisions about the use of reservists, many of whom are law enforcement officers, professionals, and other necessary components of our infrastructure. This means there might be a decision to go back to the Vietnam-era philosophy of using the future workforce of 18-21 year olds instead of risking the current one. I have this mental picture of a government car pulling up to my house 3-4 years from now and an officer and chaplain getting out. If that were ever to happen, I will certainly look back at these days and ask myself 'Was there anything more I could have done?'

I have already bought two wooden and glass flag cases for US burial flags in the past 6 months. One was for my half-nephew, a 20 year old Marine who died of natural causes, and my recently deceased father-in-law, who was retired Navy. I ordered them on the Internet from Oriental Trading Company and composed the two lines for the brass plate. The government or the funeral home just gives you a clear plastic zip-up case. I can actually picture myself making the order. Maybe this time I'd get one of the nicer, more expensive models, maybe even 'Made in the USA', although at that point I think that sacrificing ones child for ones country would negate the need to be patriotic in that department.

If this sounds creepy to you then imagine how it feels to me. I don't approve of what these destructive 'peace' idiots are doing, and I feel that their actions distort their message, but since some of them might be the ones who have to choose between jail and war if things get bad and the draft comes back, I can understand their frustration.