Hope this helps you feel better, this is the way I try to live my life, I mess up alot and let people down - Thank God He forgives - Michelle - Lean On Me.

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quit ripping on the daughter!

I hope my own daughter is that brave someday, to stand up for what she believes in and voice her opinion, even in a cyber letter to the editor.

Dog - your're being a real turd.

...for offending your sense of smell.

Anyway, just calling it the way I see it. You may consider her brave, but as far as I'm concerned calling out your Mom's neighbors in the newspaper over some perceived slight is just classless.

I'd even go so far as to say that if the letter reflects the attitude that Ms. McEvoy or her Mom carry with them through life, it's no wonder people don't find them as worthy of special kindnesses as they'd like.

I know nothing about this feud with the soldier, but I am interested in the "calling out" of the neighbors!

Were they called out into the street? Was it to have a fight?

What is going on?

that not EVERY war is justified or worth fighting. Granted, their were wars in our past history that were justified, however, the invasion of Iraq was not one of them. It sickens me to think of the families, like the McEvoy's, who have loved ones serving in Iraq, or families who have lost a child or spouse in this unjust war - and Prez Bush makes jokes saying "where are those WMD's, they've gotta be somewhere." It sickens me that he lied to us and offered up the lives of our soldiers, and the innocent Iraqi's, as a sacrifice, in order to shove his agenda down our throats. And it sickens me that there are so many Americans who still believe his lies and support him and his party. Stop following him so blindly and use your mind to think and reason. Bush will go down as the worst President in history, for the damage he has caused to our country and the turmoil he unleashed in Iraq.

To MAIN STREAM You need to stop talk I don't care if bush lie about the war or not. We as Americans need to care for our soldiers and their familys. I don't see running over to Irag or trying to help the soldiers and their family. All that talking you are doing be a big person and call BUSH and tell him how you feel about war or call some of the soldiers family and tell them you are going to cut their grass,pray with them and etc.AS A SOLDIERS WIFE YOU CAN YOUSELF

Hey, I AM a veteran, and I'm trying to tell you that the right to dissent is part of what I was protecting. Now, who are you to tell me or anybody else that we need to stop talking about this war? You say that you don't care if Bush lied about the war or not? Well that speaks volumes, doesn't it? Personally, I care very much. If a president lied about the justification for going to war, that would constitute "high crimes and misdemeanors", and would justify impeachment. Personally, I think he deceived himself as much as anybody, and probably didn't deliberately lie outright, but that's just speculation. However, that's my right.

Freedom of speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by many state constitutions and state and federal laws. Criticism of the government and advocation of unpopular ideas that people may find distasteful or against public policy are guaranteed rights of our citizens.

What I fought for, and our soldiers continue to fight for, is the United States Constitution, and our way of life. That includes the right to dissent in public. You are NOT taking that away from me!

Just to sum everything up just stop talking about the war and pray for all while soldiers because the war is not going to make husband who is a 20 year veteran walk again.AND LIKE THE ARMY SAY"UNITE WE STAND AND UNITE WE FALL" and with that say YOU CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME. GO ARMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with everything Git said.
Words are not enough, but please tell your husband thank you.

God Bless

God bless you and your husband. Thank you for your sacrifices. They don't go unnoticed, I can assure you.

Perhaps Cal & Company could start featuring soldiers and their families that are serving, came home wounded and injured, and perhaps even given the ultimate sacrifice. Perhaps through the Citizen some of us could send letters, cards and gifts to these families. Often times it is not because don't care....it's because we don't know.

With that said, please don't direct me to some fundraising site that spends countless bucks soliciting funds.

Thanks to all who have served. There are many on here. Army Major, Hutch, KK Hack, Mixer, Sniffles (I think) and many more that will come to mind after I post this.

I never tell lies about people on my blog.
Especially if I think the truth will do more damage.

I just like to thank everybody who is prying for my husband and thinking of him.And I know everybody have their opinion of the war and the only thing I ask is all the soldiers come HOME SAFE.

I don't agree with you on everything, but like you said, "United, we stand." I certainly agree with that, so I'll just leave it at that.

Have a good night, and know that we all support our troops 100% and greatly appreciate their enormous sacrifice, as well as the sacrifices made by their families. This is regardless of any doubts we might have about the current administration or the current situation. Our troops have never let us down, ever. Let's just focus on that, and say "Thanks!"

until our troops come home. I will not stand and unite with 'sheeple' who praise Bush and his Administration. I will not stop dissenting and asking uncomfortable questions or making statements, that irritate people. Your husband fought for our right, to be able to do this.

I read muddle's post:

...we must not be critical. This would, in principle, lead to the justification of the unjust. Patriotism cannot mean defending whatever happens under our flag. It must mean defending whatever is consistent with what our flag ought to symbolize.

I don't agree with the first portion of your post and my gut won't allow me to NOT be critical of this war and the Bush administration. If people sit back and are quiet, then that in itself is tacit approval. However, muddle, I agree that patriotism cannot mean defending whatever is dished out to us - which is my point exactly.

I'm going to contact Mrs. McEvoy and see what help she needs and I think the rest of us should do the same - to all the families in our community that have soldiers deployed. And I'll keep my politics to myself, when I meet her, and hope that she won't mind a liberal Democrat extending their help.

Are you sure you picked up the whole context of what I said? (Why the elipses, which excludes the whole thought, and results in your having something with which to "disagree"?)

________________

Floor Mosaic, 3rd cent. church, North end Sea oif Galilee

Please consider pinkst from her post here. I believe that she is expressing more than is being said when she writes, “is not going to make husband who is a 20 year veteran walk again” and “I don't care if bush lie about the war or not”. She does not want her mind changed and does not want to hear that a sacrifice has been for nothing. A lot of people are in the same position although hopefully less personally affected. They supported the war and cheered it on. Now that the war has turned out like it has, they are in the position of either admitting a mistake which has caused untold grief to many families or, at best, realizing they were duped or lied to. There are several ways to confront this; the most obvious here is some variation of: “if you don’t support the war you don’t support the troops”. Either that or, “now that we are in it we must support it”. Both excellent arguments to quiet dissent or, if you accept either argument, to make everybody complicit in this tragic war by demanding everyone’s support.

Facts do not matter. We’ve all heard that the war is creating more terrorists, acting like a magnet for them, providing terrorist with a training ground, etc. People will insist that Saddam was involved in 9/11. He had WMD’s. Show them the dates that the weapon inspectors were removed because the US was going to invade and they will deny that the weapons inspectors were there then. To be swayed by facts or to agree now that the war was useless and has done far more damage than it stopped is to admit that they were wrong and because of their support people have died and will continue to die for nothing but a political statement. It is not going to happen anytime soon.

Denial is only now giving way to anger. There is a long way to go. Don’t argue with pinkst. There is no upside to challenging her coping mechanism and no reason to do so.

United we stand; Divided we fall. Gratitude to your husband for his sacrifice for our freedom. . . and our right to free speech and the right to dissent. GO AMERICA!!

the war he /she is fighting is real while those who sit back and offer critiques either pro or con. The suffering, pain, loss, and even the daily boredom are real world experiences for those serving. So please, do not dishonor their sacrifice by claiming their Commander In Chief lied or the rationale behind their deployment was flawed. History will make that determination, not your opinion.
Get involved locally in some service venture that will take up some of your time, and I believe that will still a small amount of your hostility toward what you perceive to be unjust.

...or to ask questions about the war's justness or validity. If, by voicing counter opinions and demanding the truth about this war, it helps to bring the soldiers home quicker - then I see this as a positive thing to do - even in this public forum. If the anger, felt by many American's and the world, regarding this war, prevents another unust war to occur, then I see this as a positive also. Dissension is not unpolitical, or dishonoring a soldier. Our political leaders should always be questioned for their actions, if they are found to be dishonest, unjust or illegal. Whether in time of war, or not.

you feel that you are not being a disservice to those deployed but consider that the Congress of the United States from both sides of the aisle voted to send them. Further, they continue to fund their efforts despite the rhetoric from a vocal few. That said, the decision was made by our electorate and right or wrong, we as Americans, must get behind those serving to insure they are both honored and that their sacrifice was not in vain.
History is very brunt when political or idealistic views get in the way of realism. Remember 1976 and the "killing fields" or perhaps those who perished as so called "boat people?". Once engaged in hostilities, their can be but one winning side and while I understand your point of view, I would suggest that together, we find such a means to an end. How can we as a nation accept defeat and tell the widows and orphans of this conflict that we simply made a mistake and their loss was in vain?
Wars are not fought by those who make these decisions, nor will they ever be. Only in rare circumstances are the family members of decision makers involved. It's not perfect, but it's where we are.

I find that I must agree with the basic idea. We do not want to put ourselves in a position of saying that, regardless of the circumstances of our nation's involvement in a war, we must not be critical. This would, in principle, lead to the justification of the unjust. Patriotism cannot mean defending whatever happens under our flag. It must mean defending whatever is consistent with what our flag ought to symbolize.

Note that the point is purely formal. By itself it oimplies nothing about what should be our attitude toward the Iraq war. To settle that matter is to ask whether our involvement there is consistent with the fundamental princples that we espouse.

Here's a great and relevant quote from Chesterton on the matter:

"A man who says that no patriot should attack the Boer War until it is over is not worth answering intelligently; he is saying that no good son should warn his mother off a cliff until she has fallen over it."

________________

Floor Mosaic, 3rd cent. church, North end Sea oif Galilee

You are to be commended for the quote and the philisophical position of defending what we as a nation represent. It is a matter of those we elect to make such decisions and then holding them responsible. Perhaps most elected officials have spent too much time in their seats of power and with the tenures of the average Congressman or Senator, I would suggest that a discussion of term limits for these guys be raised.
I leave you with yet another quote from an unknown author that I picked up several years ago: "For those who have fought and almost died, life has a flavor the protected will never know."

Can't wait for history to trip up leader fools!
Just more young guys (who carry the rifles) will die.
They aren't fools of course but just patriotic kids, bumbling away.
I was one once.

Your comments on this blog are about as welcome as a turd in a punch bowl. Talk about insensitive! Here we have a family who is missing their deployed Soldier and all you can do is rant the liberal talking points. You are not sickened, you are just sick. You and Cindy Sheehan make me want to puke. Because neither of you have any idea the sacrifice Soldiers make on your behalf. You claim to sympathize, but in reality, it's just fodder for your talking points. Take your comments somewhere else. They have no place as a response to this family. Better yet, why don't you join the group of whackos who currently protest at Soldiers gravesides . . . you deserve each other.

John Stuart Mill said it best centuries ago . .
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
John Stuart Mill
English economist & philosopher (1806 - 1873)

From the other side of the tracks (and yes, I have served in Iraq)

There you go again in your grand tradition of name calling.

Several centuries prior to Mr. Mill, Thucydides said it even better. Quoting a Spartan King he said, "The nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools." Now, I'm not saying that the soldiers serving in Iraq and elsewhere today are fools, not by any stretch; however, we all must stop and REALLY think about all of this and not blindly and idly stand by while our current leaders make a mockery of our great nation and its laws AND the rest of the world, free or otherwise loses all respect for this great nation of ALL OF OURS. Before we become a once great nation.

"everybody's dancin' in a ring around the sun"

Your whining to the contrary to the contrary notwithstanding, you did make personal attrax on MainStream.

You didn't like what he had to say so you attempted to demonize him by equating him with the Westboro church morans.

You sure seem to have anger management issues.

Is it just me, or is there a real resemblance between Sniffle2's avatar and Father Epps? (Maybe Father Epps in a very bad mood or Father Epps on steroids or Father Epps portrayed by a Pixar character?)

________________

Floor Mosaic, 3rd cent. church, North end Sea oif Galilee

Well muddle, I grew some facial hair back at the start of football season and I had a couple of folks in PTC ask me if I was the good Father. Yikes!

I immediately invested in some Just-For-Men medium brown and cut it down to a goatee. I'm totally clean shaven now as of Christmas morning so perhaps I should donate this avatar to the Citizen's resident babblin' bishop.

Your point about Main Stream's comment being inappropriate couldn't be more appropriate - He's off the point of the original message completely. I didn't see it as a name calling session - just pointing out that his comment was misplaced. We should all be thankful for our freedom.

Since you have served in Iraq, I do hope that you have helped families who have a loved one serving. Mrs. McEvoy's daughter is right - we should be helping those who have someone deployed over there, so please, trax, go help her with her yardwork! I may do the same.

My anger rages because I hear stories of soldiers committing suicide in Iraq, because soldiers are coming home physically maimed or insane and our government turns their back on them. I'm enraged because Bush has unleashed terrorism in Iraq, that was never there in the first place and that he had a 'mission' to uncover WMD's, that were never found, and then he changes his 'mission' to be one of the 'betterment of Iraq - to rid them of Saddam.' And our soldiers are his pawns - and yes, that sickens me. If Iraq had been behind 9/11, then yes, that would have been a reason to go to war. But we all know that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

And yes, it sickens me that there are still 'sheeple' like you in this country that continue to hail Bush and his Administration. Yes, 'war is an ugly thing...' made uglier when it is unjust, illegal, and uncalled for.

REPUBLICAN Ron Paul said it best, when he voted AGAINST the Iraq resolution:

WHY RON PAUL VOTED AGAINST IRAQ RESOLUTION

Nothing like a personal attack that I think is uncalled for on this forum.

Marvena Hammond said it best decades ago:
"You can say anything to anyone, it's just the way you say it that makes the difference."

If Main Stream decides to take it personally, that's MS's problem. I attacked the MS's comments which are entirely inapropriate. I did not name call. Just made comparisons. From experience.

If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen!

From the other side of the tracks

I think calling someone a "miserable creature" is name-calling.

You and I have very different views politically, and that's fine. I'm not here to change your mind, nor will you change mine. I AM entitled to my viewpoint, just as you are entitled to yours, but a difference of opinion doesn't justify you unloading on anyone else by telling them their opinion is not welcomed here, whether it be in this particular blog or another. Hopefully we're all adults here and can pull together to help this family.

The point at hand should be to address this daughter's legitimate concern that her church and community have not shown her father nor her family any support that they need during this time and that's something we all should be ashamed of.

As someone who has only lived here in Jojah for the last seven years I can empathize with your plight. However, I think that the real "whiney brats" here are the "true Southerners" who think they're better than everyone else, are definitely holier than thou and just love yammering about how people from everyplace else have ruined their backwoods Eden. Keep listening for the banjo music . . .

...just a bunch of stuck up whiney brats.

Was that really necessary? Yes, a 'true southerner' speaks.

(makes me want to move back to the west - I thought the Civil War ended already)