Shut the fuck up.
You complacent, short-sighted, host bodies of the virus that is Americanism at its very worst.
You just don't get it.
Go see
the words of a real soldier and get a little reminder of what's wrong with the picture.
Now, Ale was right to point out that the "Not a damn dime day" message was the result of a mass-forward. It obviously is - but it's a vast improvement over the Funny Joke of the Day you get from your aunt who just discovered email. And you guys weren't wrong to say that in the grand scheme of things, such a day wouldn't change history.
But I'm here to say that you guys missed the big picture. You two are indicative of exactly wrong with our generation of Americans. We're complacent as *fuck*. We had a lot riding on the election, we were supposed to be the hero demographic, and our numbers didn't change. We sat on our asses watching Cartoon Network because our generation, that grew up in those awesome 90s, just couldn't comprehend that our government wouldn't heal itself automatically. And it's not our fault, it was all we knew. So for that, I'm not holding you two accountable - until now.
Starting now, I'm expecting you two (and all the rest of my readers) to understand that we had a luxury that we don't have anymore and won't have ever again. Think, for one second, about your parents. Maybe they went to Vietnam. Maybe they protested it. Go talk to them about their experiences, if you never have. I learned from mine (a protestor) that making noise is the only form of power people have ever had. Once Vietnam escalated into the giant mess that it was, people made so much noise - and returning soldiers told their tales as though their worst nightmares had come true - that LBJ just said "Sorry America, I won't run for re-election, I know I suck, have a nice day."
I'm not here to suggest that making noise is going to make Bush resign, or select a moderate 2nd-term cabinet, or withdraw from Iraq. I'm here to tell you that it's necessary to keep your worst nightmares from coming true.
Take that soldier whose letter I linked to above. He enlisted in the
reserves as an
engineer - and he wound up as pointman on a nightly convoy. Something far beyond his expectations happened and it could easily happen to you. It's easy to think that people as smart and scholastically talented as ourselves would wind up doing tech stuff or analysis or intelligence for the army if the unthinkable draft were ever to happen. As evidenced by a student at my school who likely had a higher GPA than me - it's even easier to make a wrong assumption about what the Army would do with our bodies if they got them.
If you're against the war, you HAVE to protest it. If you're against Bush's appointments, you HAVE to make noise and throw money at the guys who can run advertisements against them. By posting your comments of resignation you're doing exactly what Fox News wants you to do.
And if you do stand up and start to make noise you have to realize you're not alone. Take the
Firing of Tucker Carlson after being verbally raped by Jon Stewart. And take Stewart's rise in the 10 most popular television celebrities of the year, while Bill O'Reilly fell in the poll. If you sit there and call the liars on their BS for long enough, people will start to get it.
And it won't work any miracles. It won't fix the economy or capture Osama or get us to a peace with China over Taiwan. But it will fight against your worst nightmare coming true. What would you rather this war be - a 100,000 troop quagmire that lasts 3-4 years or a million-troop bloodbath that lasts 6-8?
So in closing, if you're going to pout like the two bitches you were in the previous thread, please do shut the fuck up. But if you guys get the big picture now - and I'm expecting you to - then start yelling. Screaming.
Because you have to.
