As a “fighting ignorance” aside, Chickenhawk is usually the term for pro-war people who never were willing to fight in war themselves. If Paul did his yahbone time (what Airborne sounds like when they yell it in groups), then he is not a chickenhawk.
Paul - sorry about your loss. I will say that I will take the fake bugle to the crap bugling I have heard at many a Scout event. The truth is that there are few people who can be trusted to do a Taps solo on command at a solemn event like a funeral.
There are few topics that expose the deep schizophrenia in America than our sentimentality about the military as compared to our bland indifference to the people actually in it. Its a maudlin sentimentality, a dead and lifeless mush that expresses itself as deep concern about the dead and utter disregard for the living.
c’mon, the guy’s an asshole. He’s using funerals to opine politics. I don’t like that. I fight. Don’t spare idle chivalry,
The back that cowers, the loins quake.
I hope VinylTurnip gets that, my Ovid is a little rusty
Big whoop. That was you job while in the Army. It doesn’t make you any better or any worse than another person. In short: it’s irrelevant to the issue at hand.
My mother was a veteran of the US Navy back when they still were WAVs, and she always said they were the best years of her life. The Navy Hymn was the processional at her funeral. Both she and my dad were members of the American Legion down in a suburb of Detroit. Her casket was covered with the American Flag, but there was no military ceremony to speak of. Turns out that this was an oversight of the funeral director.
When my dad, a veteran Marine who served during the Korean Conflict, died, we had a different funeral director who somehow arranged to have not only three Marines on hand to fake-play taps and do the gun firing thing, they retroactively did the same for my mother, with three members of the Navy who folded the flag in honor of my mother, on behalf of a grateful nation, and passed it to my oldest sister. So we had two ceremonies. I believe they were from the recruiting office. I was absolutely impressed with their professionalism and compassion.
I’m really sorry that this practice is going away but you know what? I’d rather have that money going to adequate food, housing, equipment, and anything else that’s desperately needed in a time when the economy sucks. The American Legion would have also done something to honor them…albeit much less impressive. But it’s the thought that counts.
Once again - it appeared to me to be a response to Monkey calling him a chickenhawk. There might be plenty of other insults appropriate, but if he served he is not a chickenhawk by any of the typical definitions.
This is the fucking pit people - get your insults right.
Boy, you sure got him there. Actually served in the military and jumped out of god damned planes and he is still a chicken hawk because he thinks that maybe we shouldn’t let millionaires start trumped up wars that get a bunch of working class kids killed.
It would be nice if some day a politician had the guts to start a Veterans Day speech with a plea to stop creating so many dead soldiers.
Not all of them, just 47% of them. Personally, I think we should tax veteran’s benefits and get rid of capital gains taxes. How many jobs do dead veterans create?
ETA: And to be honest, we should cut Mitt a break. Trying to talk the French into converting to LDS sounds like a rough job: “OK, I git zee multiple wives part, but sacre bleu, I need to give up zee wine?”
In fairness, it’s still possible to be a chickenhawk even if you were in the military. Robert Mason was a chopper pilot in Vietnam and called *himself *a chickenhawk. I’m not saying Paul is one; IIRC, he is generally anti-war.
I find this to be utterly nauseating. What’s next? Taking back the flag after handing it to the grieving widow because you have a 4:45 funeral and have to present it all day???
