Lance this boil

So military personnel are leeches who deserve to be shot, are they? You selfish, traitorous piece of garbage!

Michael Crook, I hate to even dignify your stupidity with a response, but I can’t stomach your idiocy: I must spit it out before it poisons me. It is you, sir, who deserve to be shot. Not by us, no. Pure justice would be to put you outside the wall of protection afforded you by accident of birth and let the barbarians have you. Drop you off in the middle of any country with no appreciable American influence and see how you do.

You sir, are no true American, and I never say such things lightly. Americans are bound together by common bonds of belief in democracy, our representative system of government, and have the decency to respect those individuals and institutions that guarantee it.

You obviously know nothing of such individualistic qualities such as honour or self-sacrifice. It is easy for a coward such as you to sneer at the worth of others, painting all with a broad brush, including the families, the spouses and children of soldiers.

You sneer at the pain of others; what have you done that takes an iota of courage? You hide behind the veneer of civilization that our society provides, ignorant of the mechanism of that provision: the willingness of better people than yourself to take risks on behalf of themselves and others.

Soldiers are stupid because they chose to join the military? Then so are your local police, firefighters etc. I challenge you to prop up your courage and tell them to their face. In fact, since they’re so retarded, you’ll doubtless want to inform them that you no longer require their services for your protection.

No, you’ll go on, living on the sufferance of your betters, vermin with an opinion forum.

And while you’re at it, at least get accurate numbers: Total defense spending, much less soldier’s salaries and benefits, comes nowhere near 21% of your taxes, jackass.

For all sane people who might read this, feel free to lance the boil of this idiot's ego (or at least tie up his lines with your complaints, though I wouldn't waste your money on a long distance call):

The Forsake The Troops Hotline: (315) 295-2602
Michael Crook
201 E. Jefferson Street
Suite #301
Syracuse, NY 13202
ATTN: FTT

Update: Not sure why the links directly to his shitty FTT website don't work: try copying and pasting the following into your browser, if you can stomach it:

http://www.forsakethetroops.info

http://forsakethetroops.info/wounded.html

Exceptional cases make bad law

I just read an AP news story on Sheepherders' living conditions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/farm_scene

The reporter actually says

"Miguel's living conditions — barely a roof over his head and no sanitation — mirror those of a majority of California's sheepherders, according to a survey by Fresno-based Central California Legal Services.

The numbers are high despite a state law passed to ensure adequate living conditions."

The numbers are indeed bad:

"91 percent had no toilet, 67 percent had no shower and 64 percent had no heat. Nearly 70 percent had no access to a cell phone or radio for emergency medical communication."

At least until you put it in perspective:

"In interviews conducted with 22 herders scattered throughout five counties, the group found that [...] Most of California's shepherds are legal migrant workers from Peru, Chile and Mongolia. The few dozen immigrants roam the state's grasslands, deserts and foothills during grazing season."

Maybe the reason they don't have toilets is because they work by migrating around in the freaking woods. I think I just discovered my new cause de jour: Latrines for Ursine-Americans

So they want to take this to the California assembly to legislate improvement for a few, no-skill-having, marginally employable people who probably had worse conditions where they came from.

You gotta be kidding me. Maybe we should be legislating toilets for the illegal immigrants who constantly cross our borders too. I can see it now, a line of port-a-potties along the Rio Grande. Of course it would have to be illegal for Border POatrol Agents to catch them there, that would be like entrapment.