Reply #62: whether or not they are HEROES ... they are a POLITICAL SMOKESCREEN

[Martin Eden]

Whether a person volunteers from a desire to serve and a willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice or because there are no better employment options ... and whether they do heroic things in battle or just do what's necessary to survive ... the REAL ISSUE HERE in my opinion is that our cultural reverence for "the troops" and their military exploits is a political smokescreen that makes it possible for the true elites of wealth and power who hold the reigns of the military industrial complex and of our government to send "the troops" to fight and die in order to secure profits for the corporations they own and/or to further the political agenda of those in office. In the Bush administration those two motives were inseperable.

Remember all the flag-waving and "bring 'em on" mentality when we sent "the troops" to fight and die in the war based on lies in Iraq? Remember how those who pointed out the lies were called traitors and how all the blind little patriots put SUPPORT THE TROOPS bumper stickers on their cars?

In what universe does supporting a human being consist of lying to them and sending them off to be killed and maimed for a hidden agenda that has nothing to do with the protection of loved ones back home for which they are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?

Unfortunately we live in the universe of Faux News and RW talk radio and a misinformed electorate that can't see the not-very-well-idden agenda because the mistaken beliefs they have been fed are as unshakable as the religious faith that has been cynically shackled to "conservative" politics that conserves nothing but the status of the true elites who own most of the media and the wealth of this country and don't give a damn about the teabagging fools except the extent to which they can be manipulated.

Our men and women in uniform are caught in the middle of this. More often than not they are just as misinformed as the folks who "support" them. Genuine feelings of patriotism and the sacrifices made by generations of Americans are exploited for political purposes and to further enrich the wealthy few while our treasury is bankrupted and good people die for no good reason.

To me, the REAL HEROES will be the people who finally blow away the smokescreen that has blinded so many of our fellow citizens for so many years, ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity in which the best among us will be called upon to make sacrifices only when necessary for the common good.

Anyway, that's my take on it.

End of rant.