Letters to the Editor
Dirigo
Published Letters: 673 Editor's Choice: 1
-
Shooter
[Read the article: Michael Gordon "reports" on the "only serious" Iraq option: Staying forever]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You rest everything you have said in this thread on your first amendment right to free speech, including your right to opine on foreign policy and on how sacrifice in war should be made - who should go and who should not - as well as on your right not to serve.
Serving one's country has nothing to do with first amendment rights. It has to do with duty; it has to do with answering the call, even if the cause is entirely wrong.
Leaving aside the morality of what has occurred with the use of American forces in Iraq (and I believe we're looking at a grave moral error), George Bush has been completely irresponsible in calling for, in effect, a faux, or virtual sacrifice on the part of most Americans.
Up until now, up until this morning as the Fed slashes overnight interest rates by .75 percent in a move to forestall a Wall Street panic, things have been rosy enough for anyone not affected by the wars we are waging, or for anyone well insulated from market gyrations.
As someone who has done some "duty," I see, over and over, the blithe spirits who think that talking about a football game has some connection to the reality of war and sacrifice.
I also see, and interact with, some young people, men for the most part, who have had the luxury of not being forced to make any choices about duty - in any way.
I don't begrudge them that. I wouldn't wish the pain that can go with military service on anyone.
However, we may, as Emeril might say, soon be forced to "kick it up a notch," as far as our commitments go. For good or ill, this may happen.
I asked you about a draft, which could be implemented almost overnight. I got no answer. What about it? Do you have a son, daughter, or other relative who is prepared to stand up? Or will you counsel them to rely on their first amendment right to do nothing?
George Bush has been irresponsible and dishonest, in my judgment, in not preparing young people well enough as to the stakes that are now present. Also, he has encouraged people like you to think, erroneously, that a call to duty is nothing more or less than an abstraction, which could be taken or left on the table, at your discretion. I mean, what a load!
I'm sure all this will remain academic for you because you're probably to old to be drafted anyway, which makes your courageous anecdotes about football all the more soothing, and fatuous.
Enjoy the game.
-
Shooter
[Read the article: Michael Gordon "reports" on the "only serious" Iraq option: Staying forever]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There is no resolution.
The stories about football are interesting but they don't do much more than illustrate "traits of leadership" that any salesman can bring up. They're tired. They're the same tropes told over and over. The stories are different from the reality I was talking about. You want your stories, experienced vicariously through sports.
I'm not that pissed, and I'm not playing an identity politics card here.
I enlisted.
My final note took issue with your notion of having first amendment rights which would cover all sorts of interactions with the government.
If you received a draft notice, that particular memo from Uncle would not be negotiating on the basis of the first amendment.
The bottom line is you are saying you would not do more than sit on your hands and talk about service while blithely urging others on, even under the most extreme circumstances.
You think that's heroic; I don't expect much more from you. In a crunch, I'd want more than uplifting anecdotes. You seem to have that but not much more.
No one knows what will happen with the draft. Officially, it is dead, but it could be in our faces tomorrow, if certain things go south. I'm not wishing that; I said that. I'm not wishing that young people be forced to serve; I said that. I don't want many more people to have the experience; I said that. Still, it could come back. Your government has lied to the extent that it is saying it will not rear its ugly head again. It has been irresponsible in not being more serious about what could happen if, say, financial institutions collapse, oil spikes to $5/bbl, and the supplies are, in fact, cut off. Bush has offered the Saudis a $20 billion dollar weapons deal in exchange for more oil. Reports indicate the Saudis may be looking for a better deal with the Russians, or maybe other European governments. It's not a done deal between Bush and Abdullah, despite the horse show and the falconry. There are no troops available for a massive operation to protect under those circumstance. Young people are simply not being engaged about the stakes. That is irresponsible.
It would be nice if this government were more honest, but it isn't. You seems to believe it, or believe in it, more than I do.
I have some passion about this, but is not the same as yours. There's the rub, I guess.
That's fine. That is your privilege. Over and out.
-
Shooter
[Read the article: Michael Gordon "reports" on the "only serious" Iraq option: Staying forever]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Let me put another way with respect to your banal homilies and anecdotes, quoting Chekhov: "We need new forms."
-
The Check's In The Mail
[Read the article: Will the Democratic presidential candidates adhere to their rhetoric?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The billing problem the telecoms may be having with the government on their spying contracts is a great way to publicize the more serious matter of amnesty.
What upstanding taxpayer would not chortle at the telecoms' problem, and while chortling, consider what these contracts are all about?
Many moderate or conservative voters, those who rate "fiscal responsibility" as a really important virtue, will relate to the billing problem. The critique can be expanded, emphasizing the amnesty issue all the way, to underline the hypocrisy of this particular conservative government, which has broken all records for spending and racking up debt, just like the conservative government of the beloved Ronnie.