I like Kevin Drum. I don’t think he likes me, though. Anyhoo, while he sometimes leans into moonbat territory, he actually has a lot of intelligent analysis of issues. When he talks about problems in Iraq, he actually seems like he cares and wants us to succeed instead of just rooting for failure. If liberals like him dominated more than Kos and comrades, the Democrats might have a chance of getting a real strategy (and, despite my partisanship, I understand a strong, sane opposition is essential to democracy). The problem is the extremists on the left are just too extreme these days to listen, and the liberals in his comments constantly harp on him. Look at this post where he just notes the current obsession with Cindy Sheehan at HuffPo and see the response in the comments.
Question of the Day: What will it take to get the extreme side of the Democratic party to act in a non-self-destructive way?
Now let’s head to Kos. He has this excerpt:
Staff Sgt. Jason Rivera, 26, a Marine recruiter in Pittsburgh, went to the home of a high school student who had expressed interest in joining the Marine Reserve to talk to his parents. It was a large home in a well-to-do suburb north of the city. Two American flags adorned the yard. The prospect’s mom greeted him wearing an American flag T-shirt. “I want you to know we support you,” she gushed.
Rivera soon reached the limits of her support.
“Military service isn’t for our son. It isn’t for our kind of people,” she told him.
I have to agree with him: that is a bit disturbing. I then followed his link to Atrios to the link to the full article which was quite enlightening. Apparently, recruiters are having trouble because of opposition from parents. Of course, most parents would be worried about their children going to war, but the left have been doing its best to make Iraq look like a death trap (if it were, my brother wouldn’t be so bored). The article even talks about how some left-wing groups are trying to get parents to do all they can to block recruiters. The article even mentions liberals disrupting recruiters at my alma mater.
So, if I get this straight, there are lefties out there yelling about how people aren’t signing up their sons for the war, and then also trying to help parents prevent their children from being recruited.
Of course, it isn’t the parents’ choice for anyone 18 or older, and that seems to be lost on a lot of people. When some talk about parents losing children in Iraq, they make it seem like Rumsfeld ripped five-years-old away from parents to send them to war. Instead, they are adults making their own choices. While a grieving mother like Cindy Sheehan deserves everyone’s sympathy, what’s more important is what Casey Sheehan thought of his sacrifice.
Just my two cents as I try to hold the front on this war.
-Frank J., Private First Class of the 101st Fighting Keyboardists
I strongly feel that the parents of the day have lost contact with what it actually means to live in a free society. First of all nothing is free and there is and always will be a price and everyone gets their chance to pay. I would hate to be a recruiter today.
First!!
My thoughts:
-You cannot support the troops without supporting their mission. They don’t want to come home as quitters, because:
a) these idiots would send every suicide bomber they have to the USA
b) anything left unfinished turns into a bigger proglem, ie, N Korea
c) The troops the idiots claim to support who were killed truely would then have died in vein.
-For these idiots to take the stand that this is all about Oil or Money/Power in some fashion or another, they cannot have cared less for:
Frank …. you’re assuming she feels grief …. but I’d contend she having WAY too much fun – enjoying the 15 minutes of fame and using her sons death … using and abusing ….
pete
I gave up on Drum when he gave up on catblogging.
OK,
I am an admitted liberal apologist. I came here to see your version of “the funny” after that gauntlet to Sadly, No but you seem to be in a serious phase. Or else this is a joke that I just don’t follow — chickenhawk american/chinese people? Although, you do get points for the 101st tagline.
I like your thesis: those liberals are just to crazy to talk to because I am reasonable. Further, I want an opposition party but because these crazies are opposing my ideas with ideas I oppose they are unreasonable. Hmmm.
As to your question of the day, what behavior do you deem “self-destructive”? While Cindy’s story is a little confusing (seeing as how she’s already met with Bush I don’t know exactly what he can tell her to make her happy), Bush has clearly been horribly derelict in his dealing with military families, e.g. never attending a single soldier’s funeral. There is some conflation here but is derision really the right answer?
As to the parent thing, let’s state the “moonbat thesis” plainly. Those families who support the war should be the ones who go. That article is, presumably, an example of “righties” not putting their money where there mouth is. College protests are a separate instance of angry “liberal” students taking out their frustrations on the recruiters.
Ok, I know t I used a few too many scare quotes but I thought not only was there a total lack of funniness, this was an intellectually lazy post. You’re not going to be able win with that against the utter insanity that Sadly, No manages to find every day.
Those “kind of people” make me sick.
I just got word that one of my “kids” (read as local friends of my children that like to call me “Dad”) just got injured by a roadside bomb yesterday. He’s got a broken back (2 places), a steel plate in his head, and he may have lost an eye.
That’s a real man, and he is fully supported by his parents, real and imaginary.
Muckadoo’s make me sick.
AIC
‘nuf said
fulsome,
Yeah, a few things are a little confusing and need explaining. I like the chicken hawk symbol because it’s a hawk that eats chickens, a good symbol for all the chickens out there in the media (this war’s Front) that need devouring. The other symbol I’ve used before and stands for “American Ronin”.
Can’t really explain that one.
This is one of my few “serious” posts, and I’m not competing with Sadly No (I thought the post about my brother had “teh funny”… even though it was mainly true).
You charge intellectual laziness, and I answer too little time. Explaining why a strong oposition party is an essay for another time, but, in simple, I don’t trust myself to do the right thing all the time, and echo rooms can be dangerous.
As for the self-destructive behavior of some Democrats, that’s clear to all my conservative readers – which this was aimed at.
Thanks for the well-written feedback, though.
Fulsome – just a quick responce to one of your one-liners: “Bush has clearly been horribly derelict in his dealing with military families, e.g. never attending a single soldier’s funeral”
I would contend that meeting with over 900 family members – possibly all who wanted to meet with the president when it was possible – is not ‘horribly derelict.’ And I would say that Bush probably doesn’t go to the funerals because he knows that if he does go, the funeral would become about him, and not about the brave soldier they are supposed to be commemorating. I don’t know for a fact, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out, that Bush has sent representatives to each and every funeral – and (again, I don’t know this) I would assume that they were pretty important officials in his administration, but not important enough to steal the limelight…someone like a Deputy Chief of Staff or Assistant Press Secretary.
“What will it take to get the extreme side of the Democratic party to act in a non-self-destructive way?”
Why would we want it to? Besides helping to bring TEH FUNNY, the extreme left honestly doesn’t hurt the Dems because hundreds of millions of Americans are blissfully unaware of their existence. Granted, trying to sideline Dean in 2008 by making him DNC head may end up backfiring if he keeps opening up his mouth, but I imagine the Dems in charge will realize that their best bet in 2008 will be a popular red-state Governor, not someone who who is tres popular in the DU. And maybe he’ll even win.
(Easley in ’08 — you heard it here first)
If I were to be killed in Iraq I wouldn’t WANT President Bush at the funeral. Not because I don’t support him because I do. But because, damnit, if I was to be killed I DO NOT want the stress, activity, or publicity associated with the President to bring the spotlight, however briefly, upon my grieving wife or mother. I just don’t.
President Bush is in a damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t spot. If he attends the funerals he takes sniping for stealing the spotlight from the fallen. If he doesn,the gets sniped for ignoring their sacrifice. I applaud himfor making the choice that exposes him to political flack while giving the families the chance to grieve in private in the way they choose.
Is ‘horrabin’ one of your guys? We’re sending him back; he’s not trolling up to the level we try to encourage.
I joined the military at 17 and my parents had to sign papers to allow me to enter. and the did because the respected my decision i explained to them why i wanted to go and they agreed that even though not yet an adult i had made a decision and thought out all aspects of it and still wanted to go ahead. i turned 18 in basic training and it was the best one i ever remember because i was doing something for my country. i felt proud to be in the military and proud to be an american. my parents knew if they didnt sign i would have waited till i turned 18 then went in anyways and i thank them for standing by my decision