Nice attempt at starting a conversation on the topic of the meaning of "Support the Troops" at Sivacracy.net entitled "A Deadhead Sticker on a Cadillac." Thanks, Melissa. I posted a comment with some of my thoughts to try and continue it.
Walking to work today I saw, at a red light, two SUVs, one a Lexus,
the other a Mountaineer, sporting yellow "Support the Troops” magnets.
Just how lacking in a sense of irony do you have to be to buy a magnet
for $1.50 at your local Target and slap it on your gas-guzzling SUV?These magnets bother me. First, there is the fact that they are
magnets. I guess the manufacturer felt stickers are too permanent an
expression of deeply held convictions.But here’s the real reason they bother me. And it is not that I
think the people who slap them on are falsely patriotic. I am sure they
love America just as much as I do.It is that I am highly suspicious that all these people are actually
doing anything more than displaying a ribbon to support the troops. In
a country where so few of us vote in huge, important elections, I don’t
think I am being paranoid.
Excerpt of my comment:
What I would like to see as support for the troops is for an actual
conversation in the national media with the parents and other loved
ones of our troops. There really are a lot more of us that feel
differently than what is generally portrayed as being quite happy with
the sacrifices our loved ones have gone through for George W’s
principled plans. I, for one, am quite disgusted at the sacrifices my
son and our family were "asked" to make for this country.
Addendum (3/26/05): Here’s a link to an excellent article on the same topic of the meaning of supporting the troops by Sean Gonsalves over at AlterNet.org.
In other words, supporting troops means more than writing letters to soldiers abroad, flying the flag and putting a yellow ribbon around the old Oak tree.
As you read these words, there are veterans in VA hospitals paying for their meals while the president’s budget, among other things, would more than double the co-payment charged to many veterans for prescription drugs, and would require some to pay a new fee of $250 a year to use government health care.
Why? To pay war bills while giving disproportionate tax cuts to those who least need it.