Sam, it's not that I don't see your point, but the world isn't as black and white as you paint it to be. The world exists in color. I have not served in the military. I can't speak from the POV of someone who's actually seen combat. What I am, or I guess was considering I'm not a child, was a Navy brat. I grew up on bases surrounded by sailors and marines. I saw people deployed, including my own father, not knowing for certain they would come home. The night before my 13th birthday, the USS Stark was hit by an Iraqi missile in the Persian Gulf. Luckily, that wasn't my father's ship. Unluckily, it was the ship of a classmate, and his father died that night. So yeah, I do have a problem separating the WHO from the WHAT. I realize that politicians misuse our military, and it sickens me, but it's hard to hear people actually disparage our military, whether intentional or not.
But you have the right to believe what you want. I could state that men and women of service have shed their blood and given their lives since the beginning of our nation to ensure you that right, but it most likely would fall on deaf ears. Not every war we have fought has been justified. Not every war has been about ensuring those rights endure. But the men and women of the military are the ones who will fight for you to keep those rights if/when they are threatened.
We've lived different lives. I see the world through one spectrum, and you see it through another. I guess that's just the way of the world. But quite honestly, I don't think your problem is with the military. I think your problem is with politics. I've stated before, I hate politics. They're pervasive and divisive. And they've seeped into the upper commands of the military. The Joint Chiefs, the Pentagon, they've been forced to play the game of politics, and it's ugly. But I don't think that applies to the majority of the rank and file. The men I knew, and at that time it was mostly men, they were just guys doing their duty. They were not perfect men, I won't idealize them as such, but most, not all, we're honorable men.
I look at the situation before us, and I have no real solutions. What I know is as long as we keep electing career politicians, people with clear agendas, people who put more into accomplishing those agendas than they do trying to fix the ills of our country, nothing is going to change. We create these lines between ourselves, and we bicker over silly things. What we have in this country may not be perfect, but it's better than most. And I know to get here, sacrifices were made. Sometimes, I feel like people forget what others sacrificed to get us to where we are.
I'm sure someone will feel the need to tear apart what I've said, but it doesn't really matter. Maybe they'll give me something to think on, but most likely, they'll do it just to be asshats. I can live with that.
