Patriotism sickening.

Terrorists winning.

Terrorists are freedom fighters.

Troops are murderers.

9/11 was an inside job.

Illegals & felons should vote…for Democrats.

Traitors are heroes.

1. That last link about the deserters made my blood boil. AWOL my ass! Leaving the country to avoid returning to your unit is not AWOL - it is pure desertion - in the face of redeploying to Iraq makes it the act of a traitor. I’m sure the members of Magaoay’s former unit would have a thing or two to say about his claim of still being a Marine.

   Comment by Old Soldier — 6:39 pm
   

2. […] Texas Rainmaker has boiled it down to 25 words, with links: Patriotism sickening. […]

   Pingback by UrbanGrounds » Blog Archive » Defining Liberalism in 25 Words — 8:36 pm
   

3. […] Hat tip to UrbanGrounds for pointing to Texas Rainmaker’s “Liberalism in 25 Words“? Patriotism sickening. […]

   Pingback by Jim N Texas! » Blog Archive » Liberalism in 25 Words — 9:07 pm
   

4. Interesting links.

   1) I have no problem with patriotism itself, but I do have a problem with the way some on the right use patriotism in much the same way that some on the left use political correctness. Example: If I criticize a co-worker’s work as being of poor quality, and that co-worker happens to be a minority, the politically correct lefties among us might immediately call me racist for attacking a minority, without regard to whether or not that individual’s work was in fact poor. Likewise, if I suggest that an action of the Bush Administration is not, in my opinion, in America’s best interest, right-wingers will immediately call me unpatriotic, without taking the time to consider whether my criticism has any validity. It’s the knee-jerk brand of patriotism that can ultimately prove more harmful than beneficial.

   2) Hey, it’s the site I’m already on!

   3) The problem here is that many, but certainly not all, people that we label terrorist do, in fact, see themselves as freedom fighters or liberators who are either bent on driving an occupying army out of their homeland or settling old scores with traditional regional rivals. Throw in a few incidents like Abu Ghraib and that mindset only gets reinforced. Before you blame this on the Hippie-Dope-Somking-Hacky-Sack-Playing-Flower-Petting-Kitty-Sniffing-Ultra-Liberal-Media (HDSHSPFPKSULM), consider that the Arab world has its own media outlets that will propagate such stories and spin them to serve their own interests. It is best not to give them such ammunition if we want to change hearts and minds.

   4) Unfortunately, despite the best and often heroic efforts of the vast majority of our soldiers, we occasionally have a few who cross the line from soldier to murderer. Given the stress that most of the soldiers endure, I’m not surprised that a few occasionally “snap.” When they do, they feed into the problem described above in #3. The HDSHSPFPKSULM links that you provided seem to suggest that a local Iraqi reported seeing Al-Zarqawi being beaten after the bombing. The HDSHSPFPKSULM obviously wants to get as much play out of this story as possible, so they will report any shred of information that they can get their hands on. It’s all about ratings, as dictated by market forces.

   5) It’s hard to swing a dead cat without hitting somebody with a conspiracy theory of one sort or another. It would be interesting, though, to know why the Bush Administration initially resisted calls to conduct investigations into what went wrong on 9/11. Perhaps his primary concern was maintaining his image as a wartime leader. Any investigation was likely to uncover a failure somewhere in the system.

   6) Good old Cindy Sheehan. What would the right do without her? I’m glad somebody is vocally challenging the Bush Administration, but I’m not particularly glad that it is she that is doing it. There’s a point at which everybody needs to realize that the men and women who chose to join the armed forces did so of their own will and were fully aware of the risks involved and they also must have been aware that such a commitment might bind them to serve in situations that they themselves might not approve of. Had her son been drafted against his will, her arguments might hold more water.

   Comment by JML — 9:58 pm
   

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