I have to say right off, I was never in the military. I have many friends who have been in various branches of the Armed Forces, some are older than me, most are much younger. I was of age during the Vietnam War, but due to my own particular penchant for bad luck creating good luck, I was totally disqualified. I really believe, though, if I had been drafted, I would not be here today. I am not military material...I have been a committed pacifist and atheist since I have been able to start thinking logically about these philosophical matters. I can't say that I am non violent. I would have and have been in my own way a steadfast resistant fighter, but it's always been on my terms. I always fight for what I felt I have to fight for, but the idea of compromising my morality and beliefs over the concept of a binding oath is beyond my comprehension. I believe a lot of the kids who sign up for military service do it for the most wrong reasons. After reading the bio of Bowe Bergdahl, I believe he was one of those kids, but instead of burying his brain and accepting his fate, he immersed himself in his philosophy of trying to understand the world he thought he was saving when he joined the military. I would really welcome the thoughts of other people regarding this issue. What is the higher moral imperative? Being true to yourself or feeling bound by an oath to an institution that is using you as an expendable piece of collateral? There has been a lot of speculation and manipulation of the speculation by those who want to make political hash out of the circumstances of Bergdahl's capture by the Taliban back in 2009. It started immediately and the above video statements by Fox News Analyst, Retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters was perhaps the first salvo. (July 19, 2009) RALPH PETERS: "Now look, Julie, I want to be clear. If, when the facts are in, we find out that through some convoluted chain of events, he really was captured by the Taliban, I'm with him. But, if he walked away from his post and his buddies at wartime... I don't care how hard it sounds, as far as I'm concerned, the Taliban can save us a lot of legal hassles and legal bills." Fox News' Julie Banderas was visibly shocked at the words coming out of Peters' mouth, but did not challenge any of his statements before awkwardly ending the segment.
To me, the dehumanization and the demotion of Bergdahl from being human into a an expendable piece of organic malfunctioning military hardware began here. The first salvo of the Swiftboating operation. He was being tried and sentenced on sheer hear say by a right wing news mouth piece.
I saw this in yesterday's Guardian Observer. An exclusive interview with Bob Bergdahl, the father of Bowe. An amazing bit of insight into the soul of the family that raised Bowe. I think Bob was mystified and stunned by his sons decision to join the military, given his background, but he stood by him and fought for his son's release after he was captured.
I read a post by a person who comments on this blog frequently and whose writing I really respect. A dude who calls himself the Ol' Buzzard, who was in the military and wrote a passionate piece on this called We Leave No One Behind. He taught high priority military persons (SEALS, Special Forces, Combat Aviators) how to survive and behave as a prisoner of war. One thing always stressed is: You will never be left behind – you will never be forgotten or abandoned by your country. It's a great piece and you should check it out through the link.
Contrast this with John McCain, who only 4 months ago expressed basically the same views in a CNN interview. McCain always plays on his POW creds and did it here:
To me, the dehumanization and the demotion of Bergdahl from being human into a an expendable piece of organic malfunctioning military hardware began here. The first salvo of the Swiftboating operation. He was being tried and sentenced on sheer hear say by a right wing news mouth piece.
I saw this in yesterday's Guardian Observer. An exclusive interview with Bob Bergdahl, the father of Bowe. An amazing bit of insight into the soul of the family that raised Bowe. I think Bob was mystified and stunned by his sons decision to join the military, given his background, but he stood by him and fought for his son's release after he was captured.
I read a post by a person who comments on this blog frequently and whose writing I really respect. A dude who calls himself the Ol' Buzzard, who was in the military and wrote a passionate piece on this called We Leave No One Behind. He taught high priority military persons (SEALS, Special Forces, Combat Aviators) how to survive and behave as a prisoner of war. One thing always stressed is: You will never be left behind – you will never be forgotten or abandoned by your country. It's a great piece and you should check it out through the link.
Contrast this with John McCain, who only 4 months ago expressed basically the same views in a CNN interview. McCain always plays on his POW creds and did it here:
In this interview, McCain calls on the administration to use what ever means neccessary to obtain Bergdahls release, including negotiating directly with the Taliban. When the administrtion does just that successfully, did McCain congratulate their efforts? No, he stuck his nose into the air a got a whiff of the stench of hate emanating from his GOP propaganda central and jumped on the band wagon of criticism. Can I rant a rave here? Cause I feel a major attack comin' on....excuse me...
ahem,
McCain was and still is a major fuck up.....how about his incompetence while he was in the military? Crashing 3 planes (NOT EVEN IN COMBAT MISSIONS!!! only his family name kept him around...) How about drunk-and-disorderly, fraternization, disobeying orders, and insubordination charges more than TWO DOZEN times in less than three years! While a POW he made something like 32 videos DENOUNCING AMERICA (of course even though he is a total fuck up in my eyes, I can understand doing that WHILE BEING or Threatened to be TORTURED....but Im just pointing out the hypocrisy from someone who was in this soldiers shoes...it's astounding) He also LITERALLY GAVE UP INFORMATION to his captors that caused the death of fellow servicemen......
All that and this is the man the REPUBLICANS ran for President a few years ago! So if everything Bergdahl SUPPOSEDLY did (we will find out for sure soon I guess) is so unforgivable that he should of been left behind FOREVER, that he should suffer relentless attacks on himself and his family. That the current administration should also be attacked for daring to NOT leave a soldier behind......if that's the case, then why was McCain their PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE???!?!!!?!
Oh of course this is more of the atrocious "politics" and rhetoric the Gop has been running ever since the "BLAH" man came into office. Im so tired of this....they are intentionally and purposely HURTING our Nation, Putting Lives at risk, Making life harder....much harder for those of us at the very bottom. And on and on and on.......isn't that "traitorous" ?? Planning, Plotting, Working on the downfall of our Country? All to spite one man? Hurting the country itself and the millions of people who live here all to spite one man, all to somehow de-legitimize him for the future generations......I know they are on the wrong side of this, I hope they pay dearly for it, I hope their names are marred by their truly horrible actions, rhetoric and politics forever......FOREVER! I hope it becomes so bad that generations from now their children's children's children want to legally change their last names to not be associated with the horrible connotation that comes with it as a result of their time spent damaging our political arena, the People and nation as a whole.
Thank you for putting up with this. I'm going to bed now.....
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