...ow, my head...

[thistlechaser]

American Legion Declares War On Protestors

Quote:

The American Legion, which has 2.7 million members, has declared war on antiwar protestors, and the media could be next. Speaking at its national convention in Honolulu, the group's national commander called for an end to all "public protests" and "media events" against the war, constitutional protections be damned.

...

The delegates voted to use whatever means necessary to "ensure the united backing of the American people to support our troops and the global war on terrorism."

(End quoting, emphasis mine.)

Okay, wait a moment, you folks went to war to make sure that people had freedom of speech and all that, but now you're going to use "whatever means necessary" to shut them up when they disagree with you? Are you failing to see the contradiction here?

I really, really need to stop reading the news. Every day I find things that worry me more. (Ironic thing is, I was trying to get away from FFXI worries by plunging into RL stuff!) I'm amazed these American Legion folks don't just implode under the force of all the illogic they've created...

I had never heard of a paper called Editor and Publisher, so I checked out American Legion homepage and found a link to the story on the front page.

Comments

[peppygrowlithe.livejournal.com]

I think we should start up an anti-"war against anti-war protest groups" protest group.

With me?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah! Sounds like a plan to me! Let's go!

[gechmir.livejournal.com]

American Legion is made up of solely veterans. These are WWII, Korean War, Vietnam, & Desert Storm vets. The folks in charge are WWII & Korean War vets typically. These folks didn't experience much protest in their wars.

They aren't being hypocritical per se. They don't approve of the media depicting the military effort in a bad light or people slandering the entire operation. The veteran viewpoint is to support it. Unless you've been there, sit down and shut up. And that rather matches my viewpoint on this. The Iraq war is multifaceted. There is a very large number of things we are aiming to achieve. Some is highlighted as controversial topics on the media. Others are swept under the table for good and bad reasons.

What they are huffy about is that the protesting (Sheehan) and media slandering the military somewhat fuels the terrorism. Terrorists will see the doubt and continue, thinking they can wedge the division. These protests are rather impeding the process of things. The war has been fought and is over. We are now in counter-terrorism stages. We had such things in Germany & Japan. The Phillipines involved a ten year anti-terrorism campaign. The media and other articles will paint the American Legion's views differently to make them seem like almost fighting the constitution. But they are simply irritated with this sentiment against the war the media is spewing.

The article mentiones Jane Fonda, which, if you recall Vietnam, was *not* a very good woman. The American Legion is addressing people and sentiments of that sort. Lots of articles are going to put spin on this. The American Legion is a very good organization and not exactly hypocritical.

They're helping me through college and I think very highly of them for that, for the record <3

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

The veteran viewpoint is to support it. Unless you've been there, sit down and shut up. And that rather matches my viewpoint on this.

...which isn't a very American viewpoint, is it? (No offense to you, just pointing that out.) Should only women comment on womens' right issues? (And if so, why don't men "sit down and shut up" on the abortion issue?) Should only people with degrees in the sciences comment on nuclear power issues? Who gets to draw the line on "who gets to comment on what"? Who gets to decide how much experience is enough before you're permitted to comment?

Bush is, in my opinion, one of the biggest idiots on the planet Earth right now, and if I had to pick between "sitting down and shutting up" and "everyone who agrees Bush is an idiot should send the terrorists a cookie", the world would be populated with some mighty fat terrorists.

[gechmir.livejournal.com]

I'm working on my Masters in Geophysics, btw. Nuclear power FTW, yo =D

Hell, I don't have a beef with abortion. I don't like seeing folks sitting outside of abortion clinics. It's their body. Let women handle it. The government should stay out of it. The Republicans sported small government, but as of late, the line between Republican & Democrat are blurred. They typically aim for the same thing, just present themselves differently.

These folks are claiming Iraqi's don't want us there. But these are folks who only oggle CNN. Hell, the news media *is* liberal. They completely ignored some assholes who are protesting the war RIGHT outside of a military hospital. Completely shameless.
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=\SpecialReports\archive\200508\SPE20050825a.html

I'm sorry, but if you are a moron, you do not get to the position of president. He was the governor of Texas and was by far one of the best we'd ever had, period. The man is not stupid. I had the honor of meeting him once when he was governor. I spoke to him myself, and I must say that people really REALLY misjudge him.

On what grounds is he a big idiot? I don't see him shooting himself in the foot with handguns or pushing on "pull" doors. I don't agree with everything he has done (limited Stem Cell research), but he is a decent president. But, he has yet to use a single Veto...

[kalin-nestar.livejournal.com]

My father was a member of the American Legion. As far as I knew, it was a nasty hole in the wall bar that all his older, toothless, country bubba friends would hang out at and get drunk. I had been there a few times with my dad. They had shuffleboard tournaments each week (not the boat kind). Actually rather nice and fairly harmless guys. I can't even IMAGINE that crowd doing something like this...unless of course the whole spiel was followed with, "...and another round of beer! *CHEER*"

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

"We'll stop them by any means necessary!"
*members think*
"We can get them drunk!"
"Yeah!" "Yay!" "Hurray!"
"This idea calls for a beer!"
"Yeah!" "Yay!" "Hurray!"

But seriously, hopefully this won't ever trickle down from the leaders to the individual groups, but...

Or heck, maybe the individual groups will be smart enough to tell them where to shove it!

[kalin-nestar.livejournal.com]

LOLOL....

Nah, I'm sure its nothing to worry about. You can't force people to have respect for something. Everyone is going to think differently...that and I just can't see the American Legion having much power when most of their members are of the stoned variety. I mean, how organized can a group be when they are staggering?

[wanderingscribe.livejournal.com]

This just makes me sad. It's not so much illogic as the steadfast belief in following the country's leader, but I never imagined they would take it this far. It used to be a brotherhood of people who knew the sacrifice of war and why it was so necessary. A brotherhood of people who went out and gave back to their communities because they knew what duty was.

Now it's a bunch of bullies who are no better than terrorists themselves with their threats. If they actually go through with this, what good they've done for people won't matter. The public will only see what harm their actions are going to create.

I'm glad my grandfather isn't around to see this. He'd be so ashamed.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Now it's a bunch of bullies who are no better than terrorists themselves with their threats.

That's exactly how I was seeing it: This has made them into a bunch of bullies. "Do what we say! Or else!" I mean, what is "by any means necessary" supposed to mean? "Just" violence? Or are they actually threatening to kill people, too?

They've become what they're working against.