"John Mullen" wrote:
"Mike Marron" wrote:
All you need to know is that not every intelligent American behaved
in a "ritualistic patriotic" manner during Vietnam, nor does every
intelligent American behave in a "ritualistic patriotic" manner
nowadays during the Iraq war.
I'm certainly relieved to hear that.
You can continue to play dumb if you like John, but like I said
before you're simply jealous and resentful. And I might also
add that you're also too cowardly to come right out and admit
that you hate any American who happens to express their
patriotism by proudly flying the Stars & Stripes and/or reciting
the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 'Nam, communism was demonstrably a grievous threat to the
U.S. and our allies and something called the "Domino Theory" was
in vogue at the time. In Iraq, terrorism IS a demonstrably grievous
threat to the U.S. and our allies and something called "Weapons of
Mass Destruction" IS in vogue at this time.
Good comparison. So you think the WMD justification will look just as daft
in the future as the domino theory does looking back on it now?
I'm beginning to think your cynical and contemptuous "playing dumb"
act isn't an act afterall, John. Now, whether you realize it or not,
you've just insulted tens of thousands of brave men who died in
service to their country fighting the expansion of Communism.
Just to refresh your memory, recall that North Vietnam was a Soviet
client state and in the world of the 60's it was by no means obvious
that the USSR and Communism would ultimately self-destruct as it
did. It could easily have gone the other way.
The point is, right or wrong, we believed that the loss of Vietnam
meant the loss of all Southeast Asia, ultimately over to the
Phillipines, Malaysia, Indonesia and finally a serious threat to
India. Should we have stood aside? Then I suppose we should
have done so in Korea and other places where Communist bullies
tried armed takeover as well?
With regards to the threat of WMD by Iraq, what DON'T you understand
about Saddam's attempt to develop a nuclear weapons program such
as the Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad? What about Saddam's
chemical weapons attack on the Iraqi Kurdish village of Halabja where
entire families died while trying to flee clouds of nerve and mustard
agents descending from the sky? How about the jet airliner fuselage in
Salman Pak, Iraq used to train Al-Qaeda terrorists? You've heard of
Al-Qaeda, right? They're the same bunch of Arab cowards who turned
our domestic airliners into deadly WMD's by flying them topped off
with 17,000 gallons of Jet-A into the WTC towers and the Pentagon.
Evidently you've chosen to conveniently forget about all this, matey?
Not every American is patriotic and supports our foreign policy
adventures (as you so eloquently put it). But since you don't
understand American patriotism, you are the last person who
should be making snide remarks or questioning those of
us who aren't quite as confused as you are when it comes
to the simple concept of patriotism.
I didn't make any snide remarks. That was you. And only the truly stupid
think patriotism is a simple concept.
Your closing comment above is yet another snide remark and you
know it. In fact, pretty much everything that you write are snide
remarks about patriotic Americans.
You insinuate that I'm "stupid" because I think patriotism is a simple
concept. You've insulted American's patriotism by referring to it as
"quaint and simplistic." You've alluded to "USAians" as being too
ignorant to know what "freedom of expression" means. You use the
disparaging term, "ritualistic patriotism" in a feeble attempt to
portray patriotic Americans as a bunch of brainwashed, flag-waving
zealots.
You then go on to insult the thousands of courageous and great
Americans who fought in Vietnam and are fighting and dying to this day
in the Middle East. You engage in speculation, empty and arrogant
moralizing, calculated affront, and offensive attention-seeking. Only
the fact that you put yourself on display in such a manner makes your
insults amusing and not to be taken seriously. If your opinions or
your manner demonstrated any humility or perspective, your
self-rightous, condescending insults and stinkbait wouldn't even
get noticed.
Continue to cast all the aspersions against patriotic Americans as
you see fit, John, because like you said that's what "freedom of
speech" is all about. But like it or not, it is all those "stupid,
quaint and simplistic, ignorant and ritualistic patriotic etc."
Americans who preserved your right to act like just another
ungrateful European asshole who publically insults American's
patriotism -- from behind the relative safety of your PC, of course!
Oh sure, you want your freedom of speech alright, but you also
want to have contempt for those who won that freedom of speech
on behalf of ingrates like you.
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