Two days each year, DU is not worth reading.

[lumberjack_jeff]

Today and Father's day.

To everyone who says that being a soldier is just like any other job, I can disprove it in one word; "desertion".

[B Calm]

1. We are all prisoners one way or another. I was a prisoner

Last edited Tue Nov 11, 2014, 05:17 PM - Edit history (1)

for the US government for four years. Then I got out of the service and became a prisoner for 41 more years.

[Nye Bevan]

8. Claiming that what you experienced was "slavery" is somewhat offensive

in that by doing so you are downplaying the horror of true slavery.

[Oktober]

9. Correct...

[lumberjack_jeff]

11. Involuntary servitude.

Comparing work, military service and slavery illustrates the differences between military service and work.

[dilby]

2. What happens on Father's day? n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. MRA kooks avoid DU

Because feminazis, or something.

There are some people not worth paying attention to.

[LeftyMom]

15. God, I wish they'd actually avoid DU instead of whinging on about their manfeefees.

Somebody on the internet has complicated feelings about their father! MISANDRY!

[HereSince1628]

3. Today, the bloom is definitely off the poppy

A more embittered Veteran's Day than most, imo.

[dawg]

4. I think most of us appreciate and are thankful for the sacrifices of those who served.

Loud voices posting nonsense, notwithstanding.

If no one were willing to serve, our freedoms would not last long. Most of us understand that.

[GusBob]

6. Meh, it seems as if someone can find some problem with just about everyday& everything

every holiday or special day seems to have its detractors.

Some people just always eat their cereal soggy with piss

[Oktober]

12. I think that describes a large percentage of folks...

They don't care what their position is... They just like to be contrary and if they can be crass about it then all the better.

Makes em feel superior to the sheep.

[Paolo123]

20. Once upon a time

Progressive were against the glorification of the military and soldiers. Obviously that is not the case anymore. DU worships the military and the troops just as much a Free Republic does.

[B Calm]

23. I think you'll find that most combat vets are anti war, including liberals.

I don't think were glorifying them, just recognizing their sacrifice.

[GusBob]

24. its about respect

So many people I know have served or are serving in the military. And indeed many DUers as evidenced by Mr Scorpions Fall In thread.

Respect is a lost tradition in modern society

[LanternWaste]

7. You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye who cheer when soldier lads march by...

SUICIDE IN THE TRENCHES
By Siegfried Sassoon

I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.



Make of it what you will.

[adirondacker]

17. Thanks for posting this. nt

[Paladin]

18. Thanks.

Sassoon's poems help me deal with the "smug-faced crowds" on Facebook, this time of year.

[Nye Bevan]

10. Columbus Day gets very tedious here.

Everyone trying to outdo each other in denouncing that disgusting imperialist genocidal maniac.

[LanternWaste]

16. They're almost as bad as the half-wits racing to rationalize it.

"Everyone trying to outdo each other in denouncing that disgusting imperialist genocidal maniac."

They're almost as bad as the half-wits racing to rationalize it.

[Inkfreak]

26. But not as bad as those who bring nothing to the table but snark & insults.

But not as bad as those who bring nothing to the table but snark & insults. But not everyone is up for the challenge of grown-up discussions.

[Comrade Grumpy]

19. It's a silly overreaction to earlier Columbus hagiography.

The man was a figure of world historical importance. He should be recognized--if not lauded--for that. His voyages led the way to a globalized planet, for better and worse.

I heartily recommend the book "1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created" by Charles Mann for anyone whose interests extend beyond sloganeering.

[LeftyMom]

13. 363 days to go. Type faster, ladies!

[Old Nick]

14. I don't share your view about today

Respectfully,
Nick

[Logical]

21. LOL, ok, that explains it. nt

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

22. Really, any holiday is not worth reading about here

There is pretty much someone who has a bitch about every one.

[Nye Bevan]

25. Christmas and Easter are exclusionary, and Christmas has annoying music.

Fourth of July is militaristic.

Memorial Day and Labor Day have lost their true meaning and have come to be associated with barbecues and sales.

Columbus Day? Celebrate that murdering genocidal imperialist, are you kidding?

Halloween? Offensive to Wiccans, plus kids wear costumes that perpetuate sexual stereotypes (girls being princesses, for example) and people wear offensive costumes that glorify violence and murder.

Thanksgiving is offensive in that it portrays a sanitized and unrealistic version of the relationship between the European settlers and the Native Americans.

Washington's Birthday celebrates a racist slaveholder who owned hundreds of slaves and chose not to free any of them.

What does that leave? Does anyone have issues with New Year's Day? And I guess Martin Luther King Day is fine?

[Inkfreak]

27. Don't forget Flag Day. (nt)

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

31. You forgot Thanksgiving is a turkey holocaust. n/m

[Iggo]

28. Aw.

[Capt. Obvious]

29. Flag Day is worse

[el_bryanto]

30. There's Columbus day as well.

But then again I don't really have an issue on Father's Day.

Bryant