[lbo-talk] We can lose, or we can just lose later

[Matt]

On Mon, Nov 28, 2005 at 11:15:58AM -0800, boddi satva wrote:
> Comrade JKS is EXACTLY right.
> 
> Remember that I have been in full-on "campaign mode" for two years.
> You think that being thanked in the airport by a guy wearing a big
> earring, a "Howard Dean For America" jacket, holding a copy of Z
> magazine under his arm didn't cause a little cognitive dissonance in
> the minds of these grunts?
> 
> The Republican meme is "leftists are soldier-hating anti-patriots"
> and, if nothing else, that is not the impression that (mostly)
> working-class soldiers should have. Excuse me for not being an
> uncontaminated Leftist Bubble Boy but there are real political
> considerations here.

Please.  This is a false dichotomy between
thanking-them-for-their-service (in a shitty war) and spitting on them
for being active agents (in a shitty war).

Why not talk to them about what factors, often economic, caused them
to see military enlistment as the only or most viable option in their
lives?  Or the experiences they've had and how they feel about them,
and the institution that actively tries to fuck up their values so
that they are obedient?

People don't need their asses kissed to be engaged, they just need to
be listented to and taken seriously.

*THOSE* are the real political considerations.

Matt

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