Fresh (And Unwussy) Air

My first interior response to Joel Stein’s candid admission that he doesn’t support the troops was “at least one of them has finally told the truth.”

[B]eing 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. [SNIP]

We know we're sending recruits to do our dirty work, and we want to seem grateful. [SNIP]

[W]hen 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.

My second response involved a bit of bluster, especially at these lines:

But it's really not that easy to say because anyone remotely affiliated with the military could easily beat me up, and I'm listed in the phone book.

I'm not advocating that we spit on returning veterans like they did after the Vietnam War, but we shouldn't be celebrating people for doing something we don't think was a good idea.

On the contrary (I thought for a bit): please, Mr. Stein, spit on me (I’ve had my shots) so I can beat you to a pulp and get arrested so that everyone will laugh at the notion of you getting a beat-down from a slightly overweight middle-aged woman!

But then I realized that such a spectacle would serve the same purposes that Mr. Stein’s commentary was designed to serve, along with his rather refreshing honesty:

1. To bring attention to him.
2. To demonstrate the alleged Neanderthal nature which exists in those of us who have volunteered to fight in America’s prospective wars, even the women. Kicking Mr. Stein’s a** for exercising his very American right to publicize his opinion—as odious as it is—would demonstrate the "tool" nature of all of us: those of us who have volunteered to be in the military, who allegedly didn’t “gr[o]w up with money, [and didn’t do] well in school”; and, who, as a result, don’t know any better but to administer a righteous beating to a man honest enough to openly display his opposition to—along with his contempt for--the most intelligent, educated, thoughtful, competent, motivated and lethal military force that has ever been assembled.

The “Nazi” meme would be complete.

Right, Mr. Stein?

I want to thank you, Joel—may I call you Joel?—for taking the decidedly un-wussy option to display the thoughts that many others of your profession attempt to obfuscate in order to ward off criticism of their actual position. May this open attitude of yours result in many more of your ilk coming out from behind the bogus “we-support-the-troops-but-not-their-mission” shield.

None of your fellow travelers will get a beating from me; well, as long as they don’t spit on me, that is. However, they--and you--should be prepared for the returned verbal contempt dished out. It’s our right also.

(Thanks to Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive, who is less sanguine about this column than I am.)