Lions Led by Donkeys...

[Polemicist]

A Blogger, Kung Fu Monkey, has written the most cogent description of the proper relationship between America and it's servicemen fighting in the War on Terror. A Memorial Day message to ponder.

Read this. Then read it again. Then email it to someone who matters to you. Then link it to another website.

This is something we all should stop to consider. What is our responsibility? What is America's responsibility?

http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2006/05/lions-led-by-donkeys.html

[mike_c]

1. THIS IS A MUST READ ARTICLE-- RECOMMENDED....

Sorry for the shouting but this article is AWESOME.

One short taste:

If you fail to even make that tiny effort -- hold the Bastards accountable -- to insure the troops the material, planning and care they need, then no matter what you say, what you write, or how many flags you wave, you are not supporting the troops. I am sure the pfc. with no body armor, no armored Hummer, on his third of who knows how many tours while his family goes quietly bankrupt appreciates your "support for his mission." But the other shit matters more. You are not holding our representatives accountable for their failures. You are not living up to your responsibility. You have broken the covenant. With this relationship broken, the soldiers are no longer your proxies, they are your instruments. You are treating them as tools. You may not feel that way, that characterization may fill you with rage, but how else to characterize such one-sided relationship?

on edit: OMFG, read this whole article. Please please please don't stop half way through. Kung Fu Monkey hit one into orbit.

[democrank]

2. A stunning piece of writing. Highly recommended.

I`ve never been able to grasp the connection between a yellow ribbon magnet and support of our troops. It was way too easy, especially since many citizens combined the purchase of their magnet with a demand for a wartime tax cut. Apparently the Commander in Chief felt no need to call for collective national sacrifice.

Equally disturbing was the pre-war hype: cable tv`s video game graphics and the assurances from "The Bastards in Suits" that the invasion would be "a cakewalk" and that we`d be "greeted as liberators" gleefully appreciating the strewn flower petals. In other words, there would be no harm done, so we might as well just buy the magnets and plan our trips to Disneyland. The shallowness of this disgraceful mindset was in full display during our National Freedom Fries Campaign, when the sidewalk destruction of French wine bottles was substituted for careful consideration of what we had asked of our troops.

Less than a month ago I read an article somewhere about a National Guard soldier in Iraq who was about to return home. Before he left, he made sure to give his protective vest to a buddy who didn`t have one. I repeat....his buddy STILL DIDN`T HAVE ONE, yet Congress is abuzz with debates on flag burning, Gay neighbors and whether it`s unAmerican to sing our national anthem in Spanish.

As for the author`s discussion of the use of "chickenhawk" I have to say that Cheney`s rabid, bloodthirsty pre-war ranting gave no indication that he asked for (and received) five deferments
when it was his turn to fight and Bush`s Mission Accomplished flight suit was designed to gloss over the fact that his National Guard service is, to this day, incomplete. If either of these men really supported our troops, they would have called for national sacrifice, nixed the tax cut idea, and made certain that our troops were well equipped for a clearly-defined mission and its inevitable aftermath.

[mike_c]

3. kicking for the day crowd-- vote this up so it's not buried, folks....

This is truly excellent.

[NanceGreggs]

4. K'd & R'd!!!

A stunningly well-written piece, and definitely a MUST READ.

Keep it kicked, folks!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[Mr Rabble]

5. K&R.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. I think the original is "lions led by asses"

That's the version I read in a hisotry book decades ago, anyway. The linked article refers to a WWI British phrase, but I think it goes back to the 18th Century at least.

I suppose someone was afraid that Americans would think first of ass referring to backside and changed the phrase.

[chrisbur]

7. This is it! kick n/t

[mike_c]

8. kicking for the PM cube rats....

:kick:

[annabanana]

9. k&r. . . . . n/t

[Polemicist]

10. I'm glad you all agree, I was stunned when I read this....

Kung Fu Monkey has taken the rhetorical and empty right wing jingoism of "supporting our troops" and ripped it inside out. Instead, he presents the real responsibility Americans have to support our troops.

All Americans should read this article. It puts in simple words and in clear context the divide between the right wing "false war supporters" and true Americans who are trying to hold accountable the "Bastards in Suits". And he further explains how the failures of the "Bastards in Suits" who have abrogated their, and thru them, our responsibility, makes it our charge to hold them accountable and correct the problems we see in the treatment of American Soldiers.

Thank you, Kung Fu Monkey

[tomp]

11. nationalist drivel.

what covenant? i haven't entered any covenant with the military. they're not doing what they do in my name. the first obligation of any society to its warriors is to have a just cause (they're extremely hard to come by and we haven't had one in a long time). on the other hand, if it's a just cause we should all be involved and sacrificing. i hate it when people argue from the staus quo as if we all agree on it as a starting point. the premise is wrong so the argument is wrong.

[tomreedtoon]

13. Isn't your argument against the piece kind of Libertarian?

It sounds like the kind of argument Libertarians make when they don't want to pay federal or state taxes, and when they want to drown governments (and anyone who wants them) in a bathtub. Or when they want to be their own police and fire department, and to hell with you if your house burns down.

By being an American citizen, like it or not, you are associated with the acts of the government. You can't simply "opt out" of your government or its actions. You support them or protest them or try to change them. But simply saying "Gee, I don't like soldiers, I'm not a part of that" sounds like the same arguments used by people who supported the war but who wash their hands of the results.

[BrklynLiberal]

12. Excellent article. Thanks for posting.