Veteran Day

[Reality]

First name Dingle said "I've never met a bigger, blinder, more willfully ignorant hypocrite in my life."

Want to meet a bigger one? Go look in the mirror.

Do you ever wonder why the people you work with ask you to stand downwind?

[Bungalow Bill]

I leave the Civil War out because there was no foreign army involved and because while
one side was fighting for freedom (not at the start though), the other wasn't. That's why
I stick with the War of 1812. I get the feeling that living in the U.S. in 2012 is a little bit like
living in the British Empire--the mindless celebration of military exploits and a seemingly
endless list of small wars. Even journalists are into the theme. Tonight on ABC News Jake
Tapper was talking about a book he wrote and which is about to be published about that
isolated outpost in Afghanistan that the Taliban attacked. Jake told Diane Sawyer, who is
a celebrator of all thing imperialist of the first rank, that they were there to protect us.
From a Taliban invasion of the U.S.? These folks are a hoot.

[Reality]

It didn't take and invasion to kill over 3000 innocent people on 9/11 you dolt.

[rstrong]

From a Taliban invasion of the U.S.? These folks are a hoot.

Al Qaeda was officially part of the Taliban government's Ministry of Defence. Al Qaeda provided the backbone of the Taliban, thugs brought in from Arab countries. Bin Laden and Mullah Omar of the Taliban married a couple of their kids together, in a land where blood ties are everything.

So an arm of the Taliban killed three thousand people and injured six thousand in America on 9/11. That may not be your invasion, but it was attention-getting.

[Supsalemgr]

That is pure bulls--t! Both are about high gas prices, but Stinger puts a different meaning on the same desire.

That is pure bulls--t!

Motivations matter. Stinger listed environmental, economic, energy independence, and national security reasons - all in the interest of our long term welfare. Your and "Reality"-Big Ugly's unpatriotic desire for Americans to suffer was just so your party would win.

You're trying to make chicken salad out of your chickens--t post.

Vrede is really making himself look bad here. It is all about outcome. Now explain how higher gas prices for the environment is good, but higher gas prices to get rid of an idiot is bad. The outcome is the same. It is all about one's opinion. Accept it.

[Bungalow Bill]

9/11 had the element of surprise because big bullies like that U.S. never think that anyone will
actually strike back at them. They never really had before. But such an attack cannot be repeated
and never has. 9/11 was the "high point" of the jihadist threat. Everything after that, however
disturbing, was just small potatoes. Going into Afghanistan after 9/11 is perfectly understandable.
Staying there so long was stupid. The idea that U.S. troops are there now to protect us from the
Taliban is just silly. Most everybody is moving on to confront the next enemy--China.

[mike]

Most everybody is moving on to confront the next enemy--China.

Indeed, Bill.

The wrong thread for this but ...

The Chinese telecoms equipment firm Huawei, classified by several governments as a national security risk, has done a poor job of communicating about itself and in trying to dispel myths, the chairman of its Australian business has admitted.

more ...

[Bungalow Bill]

That's the ticket. I remember 60 Minutes had a piece on Huawei a few months ago.
For people who remember the Soviet Union at the height of its power, it's hard to put
jihadists in the same league, especially after the shock of 9/11 wore off. China is more
in the category of the old USSR threat, though at this time relations are better.

[Stinger]

Libs, as you all know I am slow in your opinion. So I ask you to slowly explain to me how Chu's comments about the price of gas are fine, but mine inidcates I hate America? I had a purpose in mind and Chu just wanted to hurt all Americans.

Chu made a statement based on environmental concerns. A cleaner environment is good for everyone.

His statement, made before the economy collapsed, was also patriotic in nature because it was intended to wean American from its need for foreign oil.

You hate Arabs and Muslims. Well, Chu's strategy was to make us energy independent and keep us from sending billions to Arabs and socialist Venezuelans.

That's patriotic.

Wishing American people to suffer and lose jobs during a recovery period just so your side can win the White House is putting party before country.

That's not patriotic. That's anti-American.

That is pure bulls--t! Both are about high gas prices, but Stinger puts a different meaning on the same desire.

I can stick you with a needle to save your life by keeping you from going into anaphylactic shock, or I can jab you with a needle because I'm sadistic and want to see you writhe in pain, or I can stick you with a needle because I'm an accupuncturist and wish to ease your pain, or I can stick you with a needle full of cyanide because I'm a mass murderer and I need another victim. Same act, not same desire.

I explained it to you in extremely simple terms, but

[Reality]

Vred, your son Bungalow used the term invasion "From a Taliban invasion of the U.S.? These folks are a hoot."

You said our freedom has not been threatened in centuries. Which freedoms are you talking about? For instance, prior to 9/11 air travel was convenient, fast, and inexpensive. Has it changed? Bush said carry on as we did before. Nothing is as it was before 9/11. No, our freedom hasn't been taken away but we are not as free as we were.

[neoplacebo]

I worked at the Mountain Home Johnson City VA facility when going to ETSU back in the 70's. I could see good then.

Me, too! Not the Mountain Home Facility, but ETSU in the early seventies, when so many guys were enrolling after their tours in Nam. Some of them haunt me to this day.
Now, get that eye checked PDQ.

Gee, small world....I was in the work / study program after getting out of the navy and going to ETSU. I worked in the housekeeping department, which was the least desireable department to be in. I can still remember some of the old veterans who lived (more accurately "existed" there) and I remember thinking at the time how sad and unfair it was to have them here sick and alone after what a lot of them had done for us. Being a recent veteran at the time, it made quite an impression on me. I still think of those guys and all the others like them on every Veterans Day since then. Aye, aye.

[Reality]

Played baseball on their field back in my younger days. Grew up in Bristol.

[Reality]

Vred, I, and I'm sure many others, have read in disgust the effort you will make to twist and/or take control of a thread exchange to inflate your warped ego but this statement is your all time most ridiculous "..but one could say that it's the military, indirectly, that has caused the loss of these freedoms" and, don't try to alibi what you said by using the term "indirectly".

You're no patriot, far from it, and you were not sincere when you paid respect to the Veterans. You are diseased by hate for anything and everything that surrounds you. Other lefties on here, Dingle excluded, throw barbs, disagree, use terse language, and discuss issues in a civil manner but not you. You are a vile, egotistical, narcissist, and I'm sure you have been told that before.

[Reality]

Use of the word "but" nullifies your lead in to the sentence. Surely you knew that.

[Reality]

Verb, you don't know what the truth is. Well maybe you could "link" the definition from one of your favorite web sites.

[Reality]

Vred, the civil disobedience expert. Now there's real patriotism.

[rstrong]

Vred, the civil disobedience expert. Now there's real patriotism.

In the sense that Vrede used, putting one's freedom on the line to improve country and freedom, yes, that's real patriotism.

My Country, right or wrong" is a thing no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, "My mother, drunk or sober."
- Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936)

[bannination]

Where/how did I earn the signature "Lurker" under my screen name?

It's a rank based on post tallies, not sure why Banni adopted it.

"BLurker" - Sounds like someone ate too much guacamole.

I was bored.

[Reality]

rstrong, how is putting one's freedom on the line by breaking the law more patriotic than serving one's country in the foreign service, Military, Department of State or otherwise? It's a lot safer standing in front of a line of police officers yelling obscenities than it is being shot at or serving in a country where personal safety is threatened on a daily basis.

Are you speaking from experience or being loyal to the your US lib (Canadian conservative) forum friends.

[Stinger]

In the sense that Vrede used, putting one's freedom on the line to improve country and freedom, yes, that's real patriotism.

rstrong, how is putting one's freedom on the line by breaking the law more patriotic than serving one's country in the foreign service, Military, Department of State or otherwise?

Read much?