Narcissists and Ignoramuses

When I first read this yesterday, I just shook my head at it as another clueless Leftist at the dying LATimes babbling about something he really knows nothing about. Unlike former LATimes staffer and Communist Robert Scheer, Joel Stein just seemed, well, ignorantly insulting. Really not worth the effort. I dismissed him as a fool, but he has generated, what we call in the business, a shit-storm. After Hugh Hewitt calmly disembowelled him (you can hear it via RadioBlogger) and it made the Early Bird; well I just couldn’t help myself. I will try not to be long winded, just point out the absurd points.

Supporting the troops is a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on.

Oh, how cute.

I want to hang with you in Vegas.

No you don’t. We are mostly Southern, Western, non-gay Republicans. Those of us not at the $2 Blackjack table will be at a low-end strip joint or looking for the nearest rodeo.

It's as if the one lesson they took away from Vietnam wasn't to avoid foreign conflicts with no pressing national interest but to remember to throw a parade afterward.

Looks like someone only read what they needed to in order to pass their college history course…..and reads The Nation.

Besides, those little yellow ribbons aren't really for the troops. They need body armor, shorter stays and a USO show by the cast of "Laguna Beach."

How 2003 of you.

The real purpose of those ribbons is to ease some of the guilt we feel for voting to send them to war and then making absolutely no sacrifices other than enduring two Wolf Blitzer shows a day. Though there should be a ribbon for that.

Yawn.

The truth is that people who pull triggers are ultimately responsible, whether they're following orders or not. An army of people making individual moral choices may be inefficient, but an army of people ignoring their morality is horrifying.

No, they are ignoring your morality.

An army of people ignoring their morality, by the way, is also Jack Abramoff's pet name for the House of Representatives.

Cute. Yawn.

I do sympathize with people who joined up to protect our country, especially after 9/11, and were tricked into fighting in Iraq. I get mad when I'm tricked into clicking on a pop-up ad, so I can only imagine how they feel.

He really hasn’t talked to anyone on active duty, has he?

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.

And sometimes, for reasons I don't understand, you get to just hang out in Germany.

Beyond comment.

I know this is all easy to say for a guy who grew up with money, did well in school and hasn't so much as served on jury duty for his country.

The implication being that those who serve are poor, and did poorly in school. Nice. Not in-line with the facts...but nice. What about the men and women in my Wardroon (and a fair slice of the enlisted) who grew up with money(some of us drove BMWs and Mercedes in High School....), did well in school, many went to Ivy League schools (even Stanford) and have advanced degrees; yet plan to spend their youth serving something beyond their own ego?

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.

You flatter yourself.

All I'm asking is that we give our returning soldiers what they need(Well, most need something beyond 5.56mm and 9mm – but that is a different subject for a different day): hospitals, pensions, mental health and a safe, immediate return. But, please, no parades.

Seriously, the traffic is insufferable.

In the end, everything is about satisfying your guilt (or not reminding you of men better than (quote feeling bad) yourself) and not interfering with your weekend plans? Yes, you will make a nice Dhimmi.