{"id":21197,"date":"2010-11-16T02:47:47","date_gmt":"2010-11-16T06:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=21197"},"modified":"2010-11-18T03:01:21","modified_gmt":"2010-11-18T07:01:21","slug":"rag-blog-a-memorial-to-the-fallen-of-the-global-war-on-terror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=21197","title":{"rendered":"Rag Blog; a memorial to the fallen of the Global War on Terror is a waste of money."},"content":{"rendered":"

There were many reasons that I stopped reading the Rag Blog<\/a>, this is one of them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

GWOT LOVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Marc Estrin<\/a> \/ The Rag Blog \/ November 14, 2010<\/p>\n

BURLINGTON, Vermont — I hear on the news this Veterans Day that our thankfully exiting governor — cynically known as Governor Scissorhands for all his ribbon cutting — will be dedicating a new memorial to our Vermont dead in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

The “Vermont Global War on Terror Memorial,” planned and funded by the families of “Vermont’s 36 Fallen Global War on Terror Heroes\u201d to the tune of $350,000, is aimed at \u201cmarking both the sacrifice of those who served and the heartbreak of the loved ones left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

A memorial to oneself?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yea I mean spending money on something that honors those who have giving everything when you cannot even be bothered to give a damn. But here are a few things <\/a>from people that do. <\/p>\n

America paused to honor its veterans Thursday. And Vermonters gave a special tribute to its fallen heroes with the unveiling of a new memorial.<\/p>\n

From all across Vermont they came, flooding the entrance to the Randolph Veteran’s Cemetery. They came to honor the 40 Vermonters who have given their lives in the global war on terror.<\/p>\n

Paula Chapin came for her husband. Master Sgt. Chris Chapin was killed in Iraq in 2005.<\/p>\n

“It’s quite beautiful,” Paula Chapin said. “It’s a little overwhelming.”<\/p>\n

Gregory Murano came for his friend and fellow Wilmington Police Officer. Lt. Mark Dooley was also killed in Iraq in 2005.<\/p>\n

“It’s important that we take time to remember all those who have stood up for our country and fought for our country and for what we represent,” Murano said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But of course the fringe see it otherwise.<\/p>\n

It is hard to know where to begin reacting to all this. I cringe at the language — bathetic, maudlin, soupy, cloying, schmaltzy, large-P Patriotic — but the sentiments inscribed in this language are more problematical still.<\/p>\n

A guy stopped by at our peace vigil last night and said, \u201cMy nephew got back from Iraq and blew his brains out. He couldn’t deal with the stuff he had done — killing civilians and all that.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Great huh? I mean it going for broke on those stereotypes. I mean trying to label all Vets as crazy war criminals that are just a trigger pull from committing suicide. Not to mention trying desecrate the dedication of a memorial to the fallen on Veterans Day. Oh and the fact that the person saying this is namless, and impossible to track. Kinda like the story <\/a>at McDonald’ that a mystery “Danny” that the Rag Blog<\/a> was trying to push. <\/p>\n

If there was any doubt about this I leave you with this last quote. <\/p>\n

In any case, the language of the Vermont Global War On Terror Memorial is tired, empty, and ever less to any point. It perpetuates a sentimental, obscuring cloud-of-unknowing over the realities we currently face and must radically change. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

ADDED<\/strong> Yea it seems that the guy what was voted off of the Rag Blog island for his behavior<\/a> has this little gem to add. <\/p>\n

richard jehn <\/a>said…<\/p>\n

That is a tired (and false) argument. Sadly, the right wing doesn’t care about facts.<\/p>\n

The US is a hegemonic, invasive nation. If all we ever did was defend our own soil, rather than act as the world’s cop, what you say might have some truth to it.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

ADDEDx2 <\/strong>Speaking of not caring about the facts by Dennis Cunningham<\/a><\/p>\n

They are not defending our freedoms (such as they are). they are engaged in a gigantic war crime and crime against humanity, “the paramount international crime” under the Nuremburg Laws, and all the people they kill are murder victims. our country has no business putting armies and fighting wars all over the Earth; and you know it’s only for the sake of those who get rich from the way it’s done.
\n
\nEighteen veterans a day commit suicide, why do you think? they cant forget what they did and saw being done to innocent people;<\/strong> they know it’s all wrong, and their lives were ruined by it; better to end them.<\/p>\n

Our country is sliding down a moral chute into a sewer of barbarism, destitution and repression. Public indifference to torture and war crimes, and indulgence of the burgeoning police state, prepares the way. If you cant yet ‘throw your body on the gears, at least get off the fence…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There were many reasons that I stopped reading the Rag Blog, this is one of them. … Rag Blog; a memorial to the fallen of the Global War on Terror is a waste of money.<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,87,131,118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antiwar-crowd","category-general-whackos","category-i-hate-hippies","category-veterans-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21197\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}