We have a ballgame.

Well alrighty then....We have a ballgame!

I recently contracted a bad case of MySpace. I know what you are thinking, and you are right. But we will cover that later. The point is is that in addition to all the senseless crap you have to sift through there, I recently came across this little gem of poetic wisdom.

Now I would like to state for the record that this was reposted by a friend of mine who I happen to think very highly of. I would also like to stress the word "Reposted", this was written by someone down the line who I think may be a little misguided about the nature of political protest. So without further ado:

Take a man and put him alone,
Put him twelve thousand miles from home.
Empty his heart of all but blood,
Make him live in sand, in mud.
This is the life I have to live,
This the soul to God I give.
You have your parties and drink your beer,
While young men are dying over here.
Plant your signs on the White House lawn;
"Lets get out of Iraq".
Use your signs and have your fun,
Then refuse to use a gun.
There's nothing else for you to do,
Then I'm supposed to die for you?
There is one thing that you should know;
And that's where I think you should go!
I'm already here and it's too late.
I've traded all my love for all this hate.
I'll hate you till the day I die.
You made me hear my buddy cry.
I saw his leg and his blood shed,
Then I heard them say, "This one's dead".
It was a large price for him to pay,
To let you live another day.
He had the guts to fight and die,
To keep the freedom you live by.
By his dying, your life he buys,
But who gives a f**k if a Soldier dies!

If you give a f**k repost it and let ppl know you do
If you are in the Military add your name to the list
(Veterans add rank name and combat unit)


Setting aside for a moment my personal feeling about the unpalatable, if not slightly paradoxical nature of rhymed verse with no sort of discernible measure or meter, there are several things about this thing that I happen to take exception to.

Am I supposed to infer from this (and I may have read that wrong) that if I want our troops to come home, then I do not give a f**k about them? That seems a bit odd, and more than a little insulting and narrow minded.

Having been in the military, and as a free thinking American I think I can tell the difference between not agreeing with the fabricated pretense for war that we were handed by our government, and not caring deeply for the men and women that are making the ultimate sacrifice in some horrible desert 12,000 miles away.

I think the best way to honor their sacrifice is to hope and pray they come home soon. Any attempt to tie disagreeing with sending them in the first place, with not offering whole hearted support for what they do has been a PR drive by the current administration to intimidate and guilt the callow and the naive into supporting the geo-political machinations of the Whitehouse's hopelessly misguided foreign "policy".

It pains me that this is not evident to more people.

That whole piece is like implying that someone does not love their child because they do not agree with the amount of homework their teacher is giving them. It is baseless and insulting, to say nothing of confusing and completely disconnected .

One of the things I found most disturbing is that the piece itself is followed by a list of servicemen who have been subjected to this hatefull and closed-minded propaganda, and signed their names to it. It hurts me to believe that all the people on that list may actually have become convinced that the very people that want to see them home...Safely and soon, truly do not care about them as much as the people who are pleased with the fact that we are in Iraq in the first place!

This nation is still held in the bitter grip of our involvement in Vietnam and the completely inappropriate way that people treated returning servicemen. This is a different time, with different players, and although the rules may appear to be the same, they are vastly different. Not once in three years have I heard anyone suggest that our servicemen and women are somehow in the wrong, or not supported by Americans. It is high time that those who have supported the war stop trying to make themselves feel better (or score cheap political points) by making those very soldiers feel like the people not in support of the war are hateful, bitter people who do not concern themselves with the fact that people are dying. These are the people who are hurting our soldiers...NOT ME. I want to see them home...Safe and soon. To suggest that that notion constitutes a lack of support for them is hurtful to the very people that you feel you are defending by saying such things.
That, I will gladly sign my name to.

Vincent J. Salvatore III