Monday, November 28, 2005
Commenting On a Comment
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Back on July 19, I posted an item entitled "A Mother's Response To A Marine Recruiter."
Just the other day a young lady posted a longish comment taking "Mom" to task.
I don't often reply to the posted comments, even to gracious words of praise for my efforts, but I do read them, including those of others who mention me on their blogs. I always appreciate them, of course, and try to post links to their blogs as thank you's.
Anyway, since "Proud Recruit" took some time and effort to berate 'Mike's Mom,' I think she's deserving of a few comments by me in defense of 'Mom.'
Also gives me a chance to digress into some other related areas.
(Frankly, I think 'Mom's' letter is apocryphal. But it's nice to see one not obviously written by some Repuke in a basement, filled with distortion and treacle.)
Click the link to see the original post. Proud Recruit's letter and my reply follow:
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Michael's Mom,
I found your blog while doing a blog search pertaining to the United States Marine Corps.
Please allow me to better inform you on some of your information. First, I will agree that it is somewhat unreasonable for a person to be contacted for military recruitment at the age of 14, 15. However, the military does not contact them for no reason. Either they filled out a card, as your son did, or a friend referred them.
What really got to me, was when you said "No, the kids that are going over to Iraq -- let's see, I believe the average age of our soldiers is 19? - are usually the ones without the resources to go to college, tech school or have access to good paying jobs. In other words, they are not the sons and daughters of the privileged class."
Madam, let me tell you a little about myself. This past year, I was able to graduate early. I had a full scholarship awaiting me. I turned down $38,000 in scholarships so that I could join my country's Armed Forces. I did not choose to do so because I am without resources OR incapable. If I desired, I have no doubt I could go to Harvard. I am not alone. Suddenly, many Ivy League graduates, many students at the top of their high school graduating class, have decided that there is something in life far more important than being viewed as successful by people that do not matter.
To me, knowing that I am doing something to achieve my full potential; doing something to ensure freedom for myself, my family, the rest of the world, and generations to come; I am being all that I can be.Yes, I am still going to college. Yes, I am going to be a lawyer someday--a JAG lawyer in the United States military.
Please do not make assumptions for things which you know little or nothing about. I am not one of a kind. Thankfully, there are thousands of others just like me.
Sincerely,
A Proud Recruit
- - - - - - - -
Dear Proud Recruit,
A small clarifying point - this is not Michael's Mom's blog, this is DN's blog. But perhaps you knew that.
Well, much like a dealer in a school yard who gives free drugs at first, this is the way folks who want others to get hooked on what they're selling do it. In return for filling out some personal information, this young man got a free water bottle, or some such. He was obviously not so terribly sophisticated as yet to understand that there is no free lunch in this life. He just thought it was an easy way to get something for nothing. Surely you remember what it was like to be 14, since it was only 4 short years ago when you were that age. I would like to think the Marines would weed out 14-year olds from their call lists, but, as you know, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make the monthly quota of enlistments. And if you fail to make your quota often enough, you soon find yourself in the desert, kicking in doors, dodging IED's and nervously shooting at anything that moves. So probably even a kid at least 3 years away is fair game nowadays.
OK, Mike's Mom was a little off on the age but not so much on the background. Here's a quote from this article:
http://www.therockinghamnews.com/news/11202005/news/74047.htm
"They are also young - average age 20 for men, and 21 for women - and almost all are high school graduates from lower- to middle-class backgrounds."
Thanks so much for detailing your bona fides. You may possibly be the exception which proves the rule.
I like to think 'Michael's Mom' would be happy to have you serve in her son's place. Cindy Sheehan and all the other Gold Star Mom's might also agree.
Hey, if it were another time and place, you could have been the one to take George W. Bush's slot in 'Nam. Or any of the other chickenhawks, most all of whom seem to be Republicans anxious to initiate, complete with a multitude of lies, an illegal, immoral invasion and occupation which is as far as it gets from "defending America," with the children of someone else, anyone else but theirs. And, most assuredly, anyone else but THEMSELVES.
BTW, I also have no doubt you could go to Harvard. Not to disparage you, but "W" went to Harvard. And Yale before that.
He tried to get into the University of Texas before that, but they wouldn't take him. Apparently not smart enough; he's certainly proved the wisdom of their turndown in years since. But Yale had to take him - that legacy thing, you know. All the profs well knew who his Poppy was. And the career danger they faced if they dared give Junior an F.
I'm intrigued by this comment you made: "...have decided that there is something in life far more important than being viewed as successful by people that do not matter." (Emphasis mine.) You see, this one sentence tells me all I really need to know about you. Let me guess: Your Dad's a military officer currently assigned to Fort Leonard Wood and a "lifer." He's had 18 years to indoctrinate you as to which career choice of yours would make him the happiest. And little girls do like to make their daddies happy.
I'm also guessing that either you or him, or both, consider anyone not in his status to be the "people that do not matter." The enlisted folks - the 'grunts.' The guys who came from parents with working class backgrounds. The ones who truly made America great, only to watch it now sliding into Third World status at the hands of greedy, neocon war-mongers and imperialists.
I see your goal is to be a JAG lawyer. Get ready for the thousands of lawyer jokes coming your way. Not to mention the jokes about kangaroo courts.
I also took note of your elitist, superior tone in reprimanding your elders about making what you consider assumptions for things which, given your remarkably long experience and wisdom at the ripe old age of 18, she would know "little or nothing about."
I've seen an example of your experience and wisdom by reading your blog and many of the links to sites you admire therein. I see you're heavily into Ollie North, the convicted liar, guilty of aiding and abetting obstruction of Congress, shredding and altering official documents, and accepting an illegal gratuity from Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord.
The same Lt. Col. who disgraced the Marine uniform he wore while illegally ignoring the laws of the Congress of the United States of America to carry out Reagan's illegal policies, which resulted in the killing of 10,000 Nicaraguans and Hondurans, never mind the illegal arms shipments to Iran. And Nicholas Sparks? I have trouble envisioning the crisp, no-nonsense Marine attorney you wish to be with the soppy, cliche-ridden, schmaltzy, simple-minded glop Sparks grinds out.
Gee, I wish I had been as smart as you when I enlisted, upon high school graduation at 17, asked for a combat job and duty in war-torn Korea. Neither of which I was given, thank God. I like to think now that wiser heads prevailed, but who knows, it may just have been the luck of the draw. The Korean "peace-keeping action" was yet another of the many to come "wars" NOT fought to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. NOT fought for freedom, but for political and/or ideological expediency. Or oil. Wonder why the nationalists, posing as patriots, can't seem to understand this.
Have you heard the phrase: 'young and stupid?' It's mostly said by folks who, despite their "stupidity," managed to survive and often prosper into their seventies and beyond. We have the vision now to realize just how ignorant we were way back then.
May you attain that vision and wisdom someday.
I wonder if you will, since you seem to have taken the jingoistic TV commercial propaganda, and adopted it as your own: "I am being all that I can be." Puleeze...
You end by opining that there are thousands of others just like you. The neonazis, or neocons - same thing - certainly hope so. They need all the cannon fodder they can get for their imperialist goals.
And folks like you will take the place of my grandchildren, I pray... --DN
Link
Back on July 19, I posted an item entitled "A Mother's Response To A Marine Recruiter."
Just the other day a young lady posted a longish comment taking "Mom" to task.
I don't often reply to the posted comments, even to gracious words of praise for my efforts, but I do read them, including those of others who mention me on their blogs. I always appreciate them, of course, and try to post links to their blogs as thank you's.
Anyway, since "Proud Recruit" took some time and effort to berate 'Mike's Mom,' I think she's deserving of a few comments by me in defense of 'Mom.'
Also gives me a chance to digress into some other related areas.
(Frankly, I think 'Mom's' letter is apocryphal. But it's nice to see one not obviously written by some Repuke in a basement, filled with distortion and treacle.)
Click the link to see the original post. Proud Recruit's letter and my reply follow:
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Michael's Mom,
I found your blog while doing a blog search pertaining to the United States Marine Corps.
Please allow me to better inform you on some of your information. First, I will agree that it is somewhat unreasonable for a person to be contacted for military recruitment at the age of 14, 15. However, the military does not contact them for no reason. Either they filled out a card, as your son did, or a friend referred them.
What really got to me, was when you said "No, the kids that are going over to Iraq -- let's see, I believe the average age of our soldiers is 19? - are usually the ones without the resources to go to college, tech school or have access to good paying jobs. In other words, they are not the sons and daughters of the privileged class."
Madam, let me tell you a little about myself. This past year, I was able to graduate early. I had a full scholarship awaiting me. I turned down $38,000 in scholarships so that I could join my country's Armed Forces. I did not choose to do so because I am without resources OR incapable. If I desired, I have no doubt I could go to Harvard. I am not alone. Suddenly, many Ivy League graduates, many students at the top of their high school graduating class, have decided that there is something in life far more important than being viewed as successful by people that do not matter.
To me, knowing that I am doing something to achieve my full potential; doing something to ensure freedom for myself, my family, the rest of the world, and generations to come; I am being all that I can be.Yes, I am still going to college. Yes, I am going to be a lawyer someday--a JAG lawyer in the United States military.
Please do not make assumptions for things which you know little or nothing about. I am not one of a kind. Thankfully, there are thousands of others just like me.
Sincerely,
A Proud Recruit
- - - - - - - -
Dear Proud Recruit,
A small clarifying point - this is not Michael's Mom's blog, this is DN's blog. But perhaps you knew that.
Well, much like a dealer in a school yard who gives free drugs at first, this is the way folks who want others to get hooked on what they're selling do it. In return for filling out some personal information, this young man got a free water bottle, or some such. He was obviously not so terribly sophisticated as yet to understand that there is no free lunch in this life. He just thought it was an easy way to get something for nothing. Surely you remember what it was like to be 14, since it was only 4 short years ago when you were that age. I would like to think the Marines would weed out 14-year olds from their call lists, but, as you know, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make the monthly quota of enlistments. And if you fail to make your quota often enough, you soon find yourself in the desert, kicking in doors, dodging IED's and nervously shooting at anything that moves. So probably even a kid at least 3 years away is fair game nowadays.
OK, Mike's Mom was a little off on the age but not so much on the background. Here's a quote from this article:
http://www.therockinghamnews.com/news/11202005/news/74047.htm
"They are also young - average age 20 for men, and 21 for women - and almost all are high school graduates from lower- to middle-class backgrounds."
Thanks so much for detailing your bona fides. You may possibly be the exception which proves the rule.
I like to think 'Michael's Mom' would be happy to have you serve in her son's place. Cindy Sheehan and all the other Gold Star Mom's might also agree.
Hey, if it were another time and place, you could have been the one to take George W. Bush's slot in 'Nam. Or any of the other chickenhawks, most all of whom seem to be Republicans anxious to initiate, complete with a multitude of lies, an illegal, immoral invasion and occupation which is as far as it gets from "defending America," with the children of someone else, anyone else but theirs. And, most assuredly, anyone else but THEMSELVES.
BTW, I also have no doubt you could go to Harvard. Not to disparage you, but "W" went to Harvard. And Yale before that.
He tried to get into the University of Texas before that, but they wouldn't take him. Apparently not smart enough; he's certainly proved the wisdom of their turndown in years since. But Yale had to take him - that legacy thing, you know. All the profs well knew who his Poppy was. And the career danger they faced if they dared give Junior an F.
I'm intrigued by this comment you made: "...have decided that there is something in life far more important than being viewed as successful by people that do not matter." (Emphasis mine.) You see, this one sentence tells me all I really need to know about you. Let me guess: Your Dad's a military officer currently assigned to Fort Leonard Wood and a "lifer." He's had 18 years to indoctrinate you as to which career choice of yours would make him the happiest. And little girls do like to make their daddies happy.
I'm also guessing that either you or him, or both, consider anyone not in his status to be the "people that do not matter." The enlisted folks - the 'grunts.' The guys who came from parents with working class backgrounds. The ones who truly made America great, only to watch it now sliding into Third World status at the hands of greedy, neocon war-mongers and imperialists.
I see your goal is to be a JAG lawyer. Get ready for the thousands of lawyer jokes coming your way. Not to mention the jokes about kangaroo courts.
I also took note of your elitist, superior tone in reprimanding your elders about making what you consider assumptions for things which, given your remarkably long experience and wisdom at the ripe old age of 18, she would know "little or nothing about."
I've seen an example of your experience and wisdom by reading your blog and many of the links to sites you admire therein. I see you're heavily into Ollie North, the convicted liar, guilty of aiding and abetting obstruction of Congress, shredding and altering official documents, and accepting an illegal gratuity from Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord.
The same Lt. Col. who disgraced the Marine uniform he wore while illegally ignoring the laws of the Congress of the United States of America to carry out Reagan's illegal policies, which resulted in the killing of 10,000 Nicaraguans and Hondurans, never mind the illegal arms shipments to Iran. And Nicholas Sparks? I have trouble envisioning the crisp, no-nonsense Marine attorney you wish to be with the soppy, cliche-ridden, schmaltzy, simple-minded glop Sparks grinds out.
Gee, I wish I had been as smart as you when I enlisted, upon high school graduation at 17, asked for a combat job and duty in war-torn Korea. Neither of which I was given, thank God. I like to think now that wiser heads prevailed, but who knows, it may just have been the luck of the draw. The Korean "peace-keeping action" was yet another of the many to come "wars" NOT fought to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. NOT fought for freedom, but for political and/or ideological expediency. Or oil. Wonder why the nationalists, posing as patriots, can't seem to understand this.
Have you heard the phrase: 'young and stupid?' It's mostly said by folks who, despite their "stupidity," managed to survive and often prosper into their seventies and beyond. We have the vision now to realize just how ignorant we were way back then.
May you attain that vision and wisdom someday.
I wonder if you will, since you seem to have taken the jingoistic TV commercial propaganda, and adopted it as your own: "I am being all that I can be." Puleeze...
You end by opining that there are thousands of others just like you. The neonazis, or neocons - same thing - certainly hope so. They need all the cannon fodder they can get for their imperialist goals.
And folks like you will take the place of my grandchildren, I pray... --DN
Link
