I appreciate your diary and your candor. Thank you. I joined the military because I came from a poor family and the only way to elevate myself out of poverty was the Military and G.I. Bill. I served 8 years on active duty and I'm now in the Marine Corps reserves. I along with many of my fellow Marines do not agree with Bush and the direction he has taken our country. However when you are in the military you fall under a different set of rules called the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. You may disagree with Bush but while serving in the military you can be prosecuted for disrespect of a superior if you articulate your feelings publicly. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice you surrender your civil liberties and constitutional rights that every other American enjoys. This keeps many service members in the "closet" about how they dislike even hate Bush and his incompotent administration. Take note that there are many progressives serving on active duty. Every day that this unjust war continues our cause gains more alies. It is up to us however to continue the dialague with every American and present the facts. The troops are heros. Bush is the incompotent coward who should be prosecuted or at the very least impeached for numerous offenses.
There is good and bad in every group of society. Many feel the need to bifurcate the world into black and white, good vs. evil, categories. As a progressive we are cursed with original thought. Hell we are cursed because we are able to think and not buy the spin.
As a U.S. Marine I would stand right beside you politically. In fact, there are many Sailors, Marines, Airmen, and Soldiers who would rather be home with their families than off in some distant land occupying a soveriegn country. Take heart our country is waking up and finding the destruction left by the radical neo-con agenda. The Next time you see Ollie North or some radical military republican remember that you met USMCCowboy in San Diego. My name is Joe, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance and be on the same team. There are many more like me that put on that uniform every day to protect this great nation. We stand for something bigger than bush. We stand for the preservation of our constitution and our democracy. Many great Republics have fallen and we are by no means immune. The progressives that serve in our armed forces do so with pride. We put that uniform on to preserve something that is far greater than the incompotent bush administration. We are fighting for our way of life and stability throughout the world. Unfortunately diplomacy is not in Bush's vocabulary and he possibly may never realize that you can't build democracies using military might. The good news is that we progressives have an awesome responsibilty. The stakes are high. We must rescue our country first from the swath of destruction left behind by Bush and the radical neo-con agenda. Second we must restore peace throughout the world and open up the lines of communication with ALL countries. And third we must start the healing from the bloodshed. I have faith that we are going to prevail. History will look back upon us as the righteous timely response to Bushs failed government.Sincerely
USMCCowboy de San Diego
