Not so hidden message of, "Support The Troops"

[SHRED]

Now I know there is a small minority who do not support even the grunt soldier on the ground but for my following points I am setting that sentiment aside.

We've all seen the ribbons/bumper stickers, "Support The Troops".
Have you really thought about what that means?
In order for that sentiment to be accepted, on face value, there would have to be a vast amount of people NOT supporting the troops. I don't buy it.
No, what the statement/sticker "Support The Troops" really means is, "If you don't support this pResident or his Vietnam(Iraq) then you are un-American" and by placing a "Support The Troops" sticker on their car then they are saying to me you are either for this POS "war" or you are un-patriotic. "And look how fucking patriotic I am."

Aren't you just sick of the way the righties frame things?

[KurtNYC]

1. How about the same looping ribbon with the word "Impeach"

on it?

Message: Support the troops - Impeach *

[Sara Beverley]

16. Great idea. Make it a lime green irredescent ribbion that glows in the

dark when head lights hit it.

[Hailtothechimp]

45. I would prefer "Empty Gesture" myself.

Because that's really all it is.

[Maat]

2. That's the way I interpret it ..

since every car around here who has one of those stickers on it also has a 'W' sticker.

I like the idea of a blue sticker expressing support for the troops, but that also expresses support for peace (Out of Iraq now!).

[Ms_Mary]

26. I had a NO W sticker on there with mine too. I forgot to add that above. n

[shuffnew]

31. True...

Keep the Kerry-Edwards 2004 sticker or any other BLUE sticker(s) right next to the "support the troops" and get them home alive!

[Nashyra]

42. I agree with Blue and White Ribbon

With a support the troops, or a Blue and White ribbon with support our troops with "hold * accountable"

[shuffnew]

50. I just ordered a 5-pk of the new BLUE one on the DU homepage! n/t

[Tempest]

3. What I want to know is...

Where are those ribbons and bumper stickers made?

China is my guess.

If they are, the stupid rightards don't even realize they are hurting themselves by supporting a foreign economy and not their own.

[Kat45]

22. They showed one on the news today that WAS made in China!

They did a story on them on my local news on the consumer report to let people know that most of these are made by for-profit companies, not by charities raising money to support the troops (as I guess some people might believe). They held up one of the stickers, and sure enough, it read "made in China." (And I think it was one of the ribbon stickers that said "God Bless America," IIRC.)

[shuffnew]

32. Same thing after 9/11... flags had made in china or taiwan.. (n/t)

[Vox_Reason]

4. Bingo

It's quite a piece of message massaging, for sure.

Did you happen to see the signs during the election that said "Support our troops and president Bush"? Nice little unspoken message that if you don't support *, you don't support the troops.

I like the bumper sticker that pokes fun at this in a subtle way--it says in big letters "I support the troops more than you do!"

[Us vs Them]

5. Agreed.

I have no support for a system of our government willingly murdering civilians, and am entirely offended by 'support our troops' stickers. If anything, I have only pity for the men and women who felt the burning desire to join such an organisation, initially. Support our Troops is now nothing more than a signifier of stupidity, in my opinion. A willingness of blind faith.

[livinbella]

6. God how I hate those fckin' stickers!

[donhakman]

8. Strap this on

[ConservativeDemocrat]

7. I see support the troops on Democratic cars all the time...

That's because centrist Democrats and Independents - unlike Republicans and members of the radical Green left - understand the concept that supporting soldiers does not mean giving a free pass to the Commander in Chief.

Certainly some Republicans would like you to believe that the only way supporting the troops is to support a man who is happy to get them killed in wars they didn't have to fight - but intelligent Democrats refuse to buy into that. And we do so by having two types of stickers: 1] Support the Troops. 2] Bush is an Idiot

Don't be an idiot yourself. The effective counter to seeing Republicans with their ripped flags hanging off their gas-guzzling SUVS, is not to go out and burn the flag. Instead, you buy a flag and you display it properly.

Democrats are the party of real patriotism.

- C.D. Support the Troops. Never make them go to war because we want to. Only do it when we have to.

[Vox_Reason]

10. Props to you, ConservativeDemocrat

Nice work, and well said.

The best way to support the troops is to make sure they have a government that deploys them competently and responsibly.

[SaintAnne]

11. Like putting the flag on the inside, so it won't get damaged!

I do this at home, because my mommy is concerned that the flag will get wet and then ruined if it's outside all the time. For the car, we don't put any stickers on them, because we know the message always gets screwed up by the people who read them. Plus I think they look ugly.:silly:

[lastliberalintexas]

13. Are you fucking kidding me?

It wasn't the Dem Congresscritters and Senators who the DLC calls that "radical Green left" who gave Bush a Go to War Free card. Look at the vote tallies on the IWR and you'll see that the people you probably consider to be liberal nutcases were the ones who voted *against* this fucking invasion. And they were roundly criticized by your organization for doing so.

It was your people- the more conservative, DLC, centrist Dems- who fucking caved on the IWR and gave the public the incorrect impression that our invasion was a good thing, or was moral, or was BIPARTISAN in any way.


And even today, it's the left wing wackos like me who want our troops out of harm's way and brought home. While your organization SUPPORTS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND WANTS THEM AS SITTING DUCKS IN IRAQ.

Fucking hypocrits at the DLC need to realize they're in the wrong damn party.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

24. Many, if not most. DLCers were against going to war...

But the majority were for using the THREAT of it.

There are very few in this country (or the world, for that matter) who did not see Saddam as a very evil man. He wasn't going to do the right thing in terms of allowing permanent weapons inspections just because the world thought he should - he would only do it if he was afraid of something worse.

This opinion was the consensus of the majority of Democrats - including all credible contenders for the Democratic Nomination. Not just Kerry, but people who are perceived today as supposedly "anti-DLC", like Howard Dean. They all wanted to give the President the authority to go to war - if he had to.

But again, liberal greens parrot Bush's after the fact propaganda - equating "granting authority" for war powers if you have to with a sign-off to use it if you just really really really want to.

This is like a parent telling a kid "If you see a fire, then it's OK to pull a fire alarm", only to see him immediately ran off, look at the sun saying "I see a giant ball of fire", pull a school alarm, and be told "Well you said it was OK if I saw a fire!".

I don't buy that. Neither should you.

Stop blaming your fellow Democrats for the failures of this President. He's on the other side, remember?

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community


P.s.:

> Fucking hypocrits at the DLC need to realize they're in the wrong damn party.

You don't grow a party by shrinking it.

[deutsey]

37. I just wish they'd stop enabling Bush and start offering coherent,

consistent, and, dare I say it?, effective opposition to him.

I'll go along and say that the Democrats didn't "vote for" the war in Iraq. They didn't do a whole lot to stop it from happening, either. Just like with the Patriot Act (only in that case almost all of them did vote for that), or the tax cuts, etc.

You don't grow a party by chronic capitulation and ineffectiveness, either.

[The Wielding Truth]

73. Well said, deutsey! It's like knee jerk reaction to everything whether

it makes sense or not. If Bush wants it and it's ordained by cheney it must be done. When did we give all the power to the Presidency. Byrd is so right we need to trim the oval office power back to it's original intent.

[lastliberalintexas]

54. There are many evil men in this world

A number of them are even running countries, but I don't see us going after them- guess they just don't have enough oil.


You and others can spin the IWR all you like. I said at the time of the vote, and I say today in after the fact non-propaganda, that their vote was essentially a rubber stamp of our invasion and was political expedience and cowardice of the lowest sort. We ALL knew it then, but some can't admit it today.

I'll give you your spin on that vote if you like. But then it leads to an even more emphatic statement from me- ANYONE WHO TRUSTED GEORGE W. BUSH TO FOLLOW THE RULES SUPPOSEDLY LAID OUT IN THE IWR IS UNFIT TO LEAD OUR COUNTRY.

If that's liberal green dogma, then so be it.

[Stinky The Clown]

66. Bingo!

When you say "ANYONE WHO TRUSTED GEORGE W. BUSH TO FOLLOW THE RULES SUPPOSEDLY LAID OUT IN THE IWR IS UNFIT TO LEAD OUR COUNTRY." you are ezzzzactly right!

***That*** is where they fucked up. Not in the IWR vote itself.

This was not a black and white issue then and it isn't one now.

[Stinky The Clown]

65. I am NOT a DLC-er. I'm a liberal, but ....

The IWR is a misunderstood thing. It did NOT authorize war. It gave Chimpus Khan the ability to use the **threat** of war as a way to negotiate from a position of power and internal unity.

The simple fact is, with or without the IWR, the president - any president - has the ability to go to war on his own accord.

The War in Iraq(tm) belongs to Chimus Khan and to him and his cabal alone.

Sorry ... as I see it, this cannot be laid on the DLC. Other things can be laid at their feet, but not this.

[SHRED]

15. "...radical Green Left"

:wtf:
These were among the very few who spoke out.
It was the rest of the Dems, including Kerry and Edwards that didn't have the political balls to rear up and yell.

Am I misunderstanding you here CD?

[Sparkly]

21. I posted about this very thing recently

I agree that it's important that we do NOT let the GOP usurp symbols of patriotism (the flag in particular) or create a sense that they, and they alone, "own" the military.

I've ordered a pro-dissent bumpersticker and plan to put it right next to an American Flag one.

[Ms_Mary]

27. Well said. nt

n

[IndianaGreen]

48. Support the Waffen SS

is the moral equivalent of "Support the Troops."

There is no difference between the Germans that cheered and supported their armies as they marched to war in 1939 from the present day Americans that cheer and support their troops as they march to war.

[KnowerOfLogic]

56. That might be effective if anybody knew what you meant, i.e.

*everyone knows* that the "real" meaning of those ribbons is "Support the War;" so if you display one, you're basically just reinforcing that message, whether you intend to or not. If you want to display some troop supporting message, you will have to come up with one specifically indicating support for the troops, but no support for Bush. I agree that we need to take back the patriotic propaganda, but you have to do it in such a way that the intended message is received.

[greenman3610]

9. an example of "Framing"

This weekend's "special" on Fox.
a documentary about the campaign in Fallujah,
called "Payback time for India company"

Payback time. Get it? Always reinforce the
paradigm....

[Sal Minella]

12. Yellow Ribbon car magnets

NPR recently did a story on these magnets: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4124819

People who believe in the war sport these magnets, and people against the war buy them as "bring them home now" protest signifiers, and some people who aren't sure about the war have the magnets anyway. Sheer marketing genius, begun by the owner of a Christian bookstore.

The camo model would be less ambiguous, eh.......

[Ms_Mary]

28. I heard that report. nt

n

[newyawker99]

39. Hi Idealist Hippie!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[damntexdem]

14. No, what I'm sick of is ...

that they get away with it.

[IndianaGreen]

17. Suppose the Germans had "Support the Troops" stickers in 1940

as their military ran across Europe raping and pillaging, would we see the irony more clearly?

[newdemvtr04]

18. NEW DEM VOTER- How do I SUPPORT TROOPS-NOT ADMIN

Great site... New voter ,against war but do support troops - have three cousins (2 brothers,1 sister)in military.... How do we go about supporting them without supporting Bush? I have spent so much time trying to understand my new party's views. Worry that we will still be there 4 years from now and we do not have a strong outspoken leader during this next four years to carry us through till 2008. Any suggestions. We need different type of Bumper sticker

[me b zola]

35. How about

...support our troops, drive an electric car. OR
...support our troops, develop alternative energy.
Anyway, it just seems to me that whether you are a hawkish DEM, or an anti-war DEM, we waste much time arguing with each other instead of applying our collective energy into taking the power away from the oil barons. Our enemy's would be more honest brokers in peace, not to mention the repubs, once detoxed from oil, would no longer have to go to war to feed their habit.:think:

[newyawker99]

40. Hi newdemvtr04!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[ConservativeDemocrat]

72. Welcome newdemvtr04!

Yes. Many Democrats have loved-ones in the services. And quite frankly, I thought Kerry said things quite well: "We will never go to war because we want to. We will only go to war when we have to." I don't think there are many in uniform who disagree with that sentiment.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[formernaderite]

19. I laugh whenever I see them....they're actually "secret"

Bush administration support stickers, worn by embarrassed Republicans in blue states. In the red states...it's just a sign of fanaticism.

[NJCher]

20. a twist or two and those ribbons become a noose

The irony.




Cher

[Malva Zebrina]

23. I have been saying that for many months

I refuse to join that mantra and put a yellow ribbon anywhere and I refuse to say "I support the troops" because to do so would make me supportive of Bush's war and I am, and always have been, vehemently against this invasion of Iraq.

It is HIS mantra and millions of anti-war, anti-Bush people bought it by embracing it without thought, perhaps thinking they were defending themselves against accusations of being Anti-American, by showing support of the "troops" .

What is needed is a meme that would separate itself from Rove's and Bush's meme, NOT to adopt that meme, but with explanations, which are never forthcoming when one sees a yellow ribbon on the back of a vehicle. Anyone who sports that yellow ribbon is assumed to be in support of the invasion on Iraq because that is the way the word meisters planned it. People who adopted it in defense only play into that.

[PatrioticOhioLiberal]

41. How do you figure

saying you support the troops (individuals under constant threat of death and grievous wounds) is saying you support the Evil Twig and his policies?

I understand your point regarding the yellow ribbon stickers, but even if your point of view is staunchly "bring them home now" that is still "supporting" them in your own way.

Not trying to be argumentative here, just not understanding the premise you're working under.

[Ms_Mary]

25. I have a yellow ribbon on my car. Why?

Because the troops didn't choose to send themselves.

Because I have friends there who didn't choose to be there and don't want to be there.

Because I want them home safe and this damn stupid war over.

It's next to my "Think. It's Patriotic." sticker.

[erpowers]

60. Buy USO Yellow Ribbons

If you do not want to by the Support Our Troops Yellow Ribbons or even if you already have a SOT ribbon you could buy a USO yellow ribbon. This ribbon is just like the SOT yellow ribbon except in the middle of the ribbon there is a heart with "I love the USO". The USO is a not for profit group dedicated to making sure that troops have a place to go in order to wait for flights when they travel in this country and others. They do some other things in foreign countries. I believe that a good portion of the money goes to either the USO or to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Anyone can buy the USO yellow ribbons at just about any USO in the United States.

[Ms_Mary]

62. Never heard of the USO before, good to know. The one I have

actually helped fund care packages to our local national gaurd unit that returned from Iraq this summer. We lost one of our own there. My husband's best friend is is Kuwait waiting to go into Iraq right now. It sucks. It sucks so badly.

[Stinky The Clown]

67. USO - United Service Organization

Been around since at least WWII ... maybe longer.

Bob Hope Christmas Tour? USO

Jay Leno and David Letterman in the middle east? USO

They have a long and proud history and do good stuff, although today they seem to some as being a bit old fashioned.

[Ms_Mary]

68. Well, when you bring up Bob Hope, now it rings a bell!

[Selatius]

29. We could possibly diffuse this by printing "Bring 'em home" stickers

Just a thought I'd put out there. You folks probably could make up a better phrase though that'd be more catchy.

[Ladyhawk]

30. This is what I have on my car:

http://www.stampandshout.com

[CANDO]

38. You asked for it!

www.troopsribbon.com

[sunnystarr]

64. That's PERFECT!!

Ordering one today. Thanks so much :)

[hvn_nbr_2]

33. Our troops as human political shields

All the $##@%'s that use "Support our troops" as a codeword for "Support this administration's war-mongering" are using our troops as human political shields.

[BBG]

34. Turn it Over time

ok, they got their iconic bullshit meme. Turn a flag over and fly that back at them. We posted an american flag, just like my icon over there, in the back window of the car. Been approached about by a few people and simply put my response is that we as a nation in a time of great peril.

We are facing the greatest threat ever posed in the history of this nation. Quit playing cute with it and get with the program. A people in distress can show their distress with the universal signal of flying the flag upside down.

[deutsey]

36. Yes. It's meant to be used as a gag around the mouth of dissent

[SammyWinstonJack]

43. Saw a bumpersticker last night with this on it,

"Support President Bush and our Troops" on a stars and stripes background. :puke:

[Zinfandel]

46. Just get one of these bumper stickers and shut the fuckers up!

http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/





http://www.edbydesign.com/books/B0002U5XNC.html



http://www.mfso.org/Ribbons.htm

[info being]

44. Bumper stickers are lame.

Too bad we, as a society, can't communicate much beyond bumper stickers.

[Warren DeMontague]

47. You could stand on the sidewalk with a sandwich board

Beyond that, I'm not sure how you would propose to communicate ideas to strangers in traffic.

[heidler1]

49. I did see one ribbon where the guy added GET OUR TROOPS HOME NOW

Ive been looking for one of those ever since.

[Hosnon]

51. Agree with you totally. No one is screaming "Don't Support the Troops"

[SHRED]

52. Exactly

What masses are going around saying "Don't support the troops"?
This "Support The Troops" campaign is a thinly veiled smokescreen perpetrated by bu$h/born again supporters.

If they "Support" our troops then they should be lobbying shrub to fully fund health care for National Guard service.

[imax2268]

53. you know something...

the other day I saw a letter to the editor in the local newspaper here from a woman who was complaining that not enough people have those ribbons on their cars...she said it's a shame that more people don't support the pResident and the troops...and that if the people who don't have one on their cars are "not" patriotic...

so nauseating...!

where do these people come from...to her I have to put a magnetic ribbon on my car to show my patriotism...?

Good god...I served in the NAVY and was involved in the first Gulf War...I have cousins in the Marines who went to Iraq...I don't need some fucking yellow ribbon that will ruin my paint job to show how much I love my country...

if you think those yellow ribbons are bad...look at this...
http://store.starsandstripesshop.com/suourtr.html

[Hosnon]

55. This really ticks me off - for Xmas I'm buying myself a nice

"Support the Troops" sticker AND a W within a "no" red circle. It's time, like ConservativeDemocrat says, to fight the Republican attempt to claim OUR troops as their own!

[BlueCollar]

57. Has anyone printed one that says

Support our Troops
IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT

[obreaslan]

58. I'm going to make one for myself...

that says...

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
ENLIST YOUR CHILDREN

I'm so tired of seeing these ribbon stickers on a mini-van full of kids, and you know that if it came down to it, this "security mom" would sooner wisk her kids off to Canada than have them go and fight for this country.

[SHRED]

59. I like it but...

Maybe the word "Your" should be underlined?
Just a thought.

:toast:

[obreaslan]

61. Good Suggestion.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
ENLIST YOUR CHILDREN

or possibly...

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
ENLIST YOUR CHILDREN

[KitSileya]

63. Should print that out as flyers

and put it under the window wipers (or whatever they're called) on every SUV with a yellow ribbon and a Bush** sticker. And yeah, the 'your' should be underlined.

[SHRED]

71. Great idea

:kick:

[bajamary]

69. my car ribbon says: " Pray for Peace, Work for Justice"

Hi DU Folks,

I got so sick of seeing these "Support Our Troops" etc. ribbons that I designed a car ribbon magnet.

It's a blue ribbon with white lettering that says:

Pray for Peace, Work for Justice

It's available on my website:

www.4-my-country.com

I'm new to DU, so I apologize for the promotion of the ribbon, but I thought you'd like to know about this ribbon.

Cheers,
Mary

[Tom Rinaldo]

70. Sure. It's the same way they hijacked the Flag

I put a Support Our Troops ribbon on my Car right next to my Anti-Bush stickers. I see no contradiction. Best way to support our troops is to change the leadership in Washington. Our military is under civilian control. Our troops did no decide on their own to invade Iraq. I wish them all well.

If the left embraces Support Our Troops it becomes just a meaningless banality. Everyone agrees, move on. If we boycott it, it becomes a potent wedge issue for Republicans.