It is simply not about them

[Stinky The Clown]

Maybe it once was, sort of. But not any more.



It also isn't about any of these guys, no matter how honorably they might have served. And most *did* serve honorably.



It surely isn't about these guys.



It isn't about these guys and I sincerely hope it never is.



No. It is about people we can never see again. People who are now names on walls.



Famous walls and ordinary walls



Large walls and small plaques



Framed pictures



It comes down the very personal

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iWrHa94sWOI/TJYSsWrOE6I/AAAAAAAAAsk/1luoojq7v-Y/s1600/Gold+star+Banner.jpg

That's what its about. And not all cartoons are funny.

[uppityperson]

1. Veteran's day is about vets, Memorial Day is about those who died

[GoneOffShore]

2. Time for Wilfred Owen again - DULCE ET DECORUM EST

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen
8 October 1917 - March, 1918

[liberal N proud]

3. Absolutely

But I hope those guys don't shoot those gun in the building.

For those who gave it all:

[Kablooie]

4. You're right, but Sarah Palin wants it to be about her instead.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. The dynamic around her the last few days is indicative of who she is and who her supporters are.

She's a user. She grifted her way into an invite to this raucous LOOK AT ME event this now mostly irrelevant group does every year. They, in turn, gleefully allowed themselves to be used as camera fodder. Collectively, they're all worth less than slime on the surface of a pond.

She is a disgusting woman

[snot]

5. Recent Death Totals:

Coalition military deaths in the Iraq war based on info confirmed by the US government: 4772
Coalition military deaths in the Afghanistan war based on info confirmed by the appropriate government: 2492
Total confirmed Coalition military deaths: 7,264

Source: http://icasualties.org

Does not include contractors. Many more wounded; just came across one estimate of 100,000.

Estimated Iraqi deaths due to invasion: 1,455,590.

Source: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org

Even using the most conservative credible estimates, at least 919,967 people have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since the US and coalition attacks.

Source: http://www.unknownnews.net/casualties.html

These numbers are all fairly recent but not necessarily through today.