Author Topic: "At least I don't have a kid in Iraq" (Read 2220 times)

VOR · « **Reply #60 on:** January 10, 2007, 05:51:40 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Charon
Here in North Shore suburban Chicago, the military service path has to be on the order of a whopping 1 percent or so among high school graduates (as well as I can estimate from when I was in High School here). However, they do have a lot of yellow ribbons on their SUVs though to show how much they support the troops (it says so right there!) and what patriotic Americans they are (they bought the ribbon!).

Golf Clap.

Charon

Stick a Ribbon on Your S.U.V.

Edit: some NSFW language in there. (unless you work where I work)

john9001 · « **Reply #61 on:** January 10, 2007, 05:53:33 PM »

what Charon is trying to say is that if we drafted rich white kids their rich white neocon daddies would not want their little white kids to go to war, so the rich white neocon daddies would not invade some little defenseless country like iraq or afghanistan and there would be peace on earth.

am i close there charon?

VOR · « **Reply #62 on:** January 10, 2007, 05:56:22 PM »

No john9001, what Charon is saying is the draft would remove a great deal of apathy and detatchment from warfare by making it a real possibility for most families.

(You already knew that, of course.)

Maverick · « **Reply #63 on:** January 10, 2007, 06:04:11 PM »

Charon,

While you may have come from a financially affluent side of the tracks I think they were the less worthy side. Actually I feel sorry for the concepts you wrote about. They may have had more money, but lack far more non financial wealth. Certainly nothing to envy or respect.

I feel they are worthy of less than a "golf clap".

vorticon · « **Reply #64 on:** January 10, 2007, 06:05:14 PM »

means

"what Charon is saying is the draft would remove a great deal of apathy and detatchment from warfare by making it a real possibility for most families.
"

possible ends

"what Charon is trying to say is that if we drafted rich white kids their rich white neocon daddies would not want their little white kids to go to war"

cav58d · « **Reply #65 on:** January 10, 2007, 06:50:34 PM »

Charon. I grew up in a five bedroom home. Parents income +200k. Never paid a dime for college. Guess what? By Friday, I will have completed the ASVAB, and the initial enlistment physical. But i'm just an anomaly right? I must be doing this for future gains, and a nice resume, becuase there is no way that someone from "our" side of the tracks joins the military, because he believes in a cause.

JB88 · « **Reply #66 on:** January 10, 2007, 06:52:34 PM »

no. your kind just does it to piss off your parents.

rpm · « **Reply #67 on:** January 10, 2007, 07:00:46 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by JB88
no. your kind just does it to piss off your parents.

Charon · « **Reply #68 on:** January 10, 2007, 07:07:24 PM »

LOL VOR, that was truly magical

Quote

what Charon is trying to say is that if we drafted rich white kids their rich white neocon daddies would not want their little white kids to go to war, so the rich white neocon daddies would not invade some little defenseless country like iraq or afghanistan and there would be peace on earth.

am i close there charon?

No, I just think they might pay a little more attention to the war plan, demand more answers to tough questions, spend some brainpower relative to costs and likely end results and see if the whole thing ultimately is worth THEIR son's life.

I think the answer to that question might be different relative to not so defenseless terrorist stronghold Afghanistan (a true harbor to al Queda), which I would have supported action in before 9/11 (with the major concerns relative to the Soviet experience needing to be addressed) compared to Wolfowitz's miracle in the Middle East that missed in so many areas (from the reaction of the Iraqi "people" to troop strengths, to oil funding the debt, to the democracy domino effect [where we may have even seriously destabilized our moderate allies in the region]). This is not hindsight. The current state of affairs was identified by people who had real experience in the region before the first shock met the first awe, but they were called ******* (or at least nervous nellies) by the chickenhawks even if they had a senior military background.

War on the cheap is only cool if it is actually cheap and works in the long haul. Otherwise we have to bear down and go at it full speed ahead with more commitment than "shopping our way to victory." Real sacrifice by the full American people.

I'm not anti war in concept by any means -- unavoidable with flawed humanity and perhaps the only thing these folk ultimately understand. I think Iraq was a mistake. I like to have the bloodshed mean something by accomplishing national goals and interests and I strongly fear this will not be the case. However, now that we are where we are I almost feel our "troop surge" at this point should be of WW2 scale to whip these Midevil ****s into line once and for all -- from Syria to Saudi Arabia. But, that's not going to happen in either the blue or red states. So we have whatever we have at this point.

Charon

cav58d · « **Reply #69 on:** January 10, 2007, 07:09:26 PM »

My family is 100% supportive of my decision. Not only supportive, but they are extremely encouraging, and are helping me put my WOFT packet together, with a smile on their face.

sluggish · « **Reply #70 on:** January 10, 2007, 07:12:55 PM »

Cav,

You definately are the exception, not the rule. The rich have always looked at military service as "something other people do." During the Civil War a wealthy person could actually pay someone to serve for him. Throughout our history the rich have created loopholes to exempt themselves from service. If I remember correctly, shortly after the last major loophole, the college exemption, was done away with, the draft was abolished.

john9001 · « **Reply #71 on:** January 10, 2007, 07:18:59 PM »

if you think the "iraq war" is a failure you are a victim of the media and the liberals, most of iraq is peaceful, only a few small areas are affected by the terrorists, the extra troops are to be used in those spots to mop up the remnants.

john9001 · « **Reply #72 on:** January 10, 2007, 07:21:58 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by sluggish
Cav,

You definately are the exception, not the rule. The rich have always looked at military service as "something other people do." During the Civil War a wealthy person could actually pay someone to serve for him. Throughout our history the rich have created loopholes to exempt themselves from service. If I remember correctly, shortly after the last major loophole, the college exemption, was done away with, the draft was abolished.

JFK and his older brother joe? john kerry?

Charon · « **Reply #73 on:** January 10, 2007, 07:24:01 PM »

Quote

Charon. I grew up in a five bedroom home. Parents income +200k. Never paid a dime for college. Guess what? By Friday, I will have completed the ASVAB, and the initial enlistment physical. But i'm just an anomaly right? I must be doing this for future gains, and a nice resume, becuase there is no way that someone from "our" side of the tracks joins the military, because he believes in a cause.

Well, I was actually on the other side of "your" tracks

Single parent scraping by to get me in to the right schoold district. But yeah, not many seemed to care all that much about duty, honor and country so WTG, you know what's important in life.

Funny story though. One of "the handful", a guy named Kent "Vic" Webber ended up in Naval Aviation as an F-18 pilot and Top Gun Instructor in the A2G end of things. I was hanging out at the local watering hole with him and a bunch of friends after the 10th HS anniversary. Here's a guy living MY dream, and with a smoking hot fiancee to boot, and he standing there almost apologizing for his career choice in that... "it doesn't pay much, but..." Dude.

Of course, another one of the handful was a Marine named JJ who got busted trying to sell some Sat device to the "Soviets" in a plot worthy of the Keystone cops, no doubt.

Charon

sluggish · « **Reply #74 on:** January 10, 2007, 07:24:10 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by john9001
JFK and his older brother joe? john kerry?

The exception, not the rule.