Abso-blanking-lutely.

Those who have spent time in The Machine were marched into enough theaters/lined up at enough parades for meaningless stuff to recognize the bored looks on the faces of the military personnel which Dear Leader has been using for backdrops.

But the rest of the folks may think those soldiers/Marines/sailors/airmen actually wanted to be there, thereby giving Dear Leader a tacit vote of approval from the military. Nothing could be further from the truth, but then the one thing this bunch neither knows or cares about is the truth.

The Bush and Cheney use of military personnel as wallpaper for their political speeches is immoral, it is misleading and it is appalling. Are we supposed to get the impression that all of those soldiers standing in formation at parade rest behind Dick Cheney at Fort Drum a few days ago agree with him? I happen to be personally acquainted with any number of active duty military people who are not Republicans and who strongly disagree with the administration's war policy.(And why did they have to STAND throughout his speech...aren't they all tuckered out from serving in Iraq? If Mr. Cheney had ever actually served in the military himself it might have occurred to him that they would be a lot happier if they could they sit down and rest while he droned on and on.) Even if only half of those soldiers realize Cheney's a sneaky lunatic who should be indicted for war crimes the realities of rank, discipline and obedience in the context of their careers would still require them to stand there, stony-faced, acting as scenery for Cheney's political advocacy. Moreover, I couldn't help but notice that when it was time for Cheney to actually communicate with the soldiers (i.e., talk AND LISTEN) the press was chased out of the room. Probably afraid of what his wallpaper might say about their equipment, training, excessive number of deployments, etc.

Mr. Bush, reading his speech in front of an assemblage of midshipmen at Annapolis, was equally pathetic and offensive. What an affront to the dignity and self-respect of those midshipmen in the group perceptive enough to know full-well the president is utterly clueless, that he has no meaningful plan for Iraq, and that his ineptitude will no doubt end up killing some of them or their classmates. Those midshipmen were forced to be props in a public relations gig in a way that was eerily reminiscent of Nixon's final days, in 1974, when the only groups who wouldn't turn their backs on him were on active duty military, standing in formation, unable to leave the room.

Let's all write blog entries, op-ed pieces, editorials and letters to editors complaining about this misuse and abuse of active duty military personnel by the Administration.

Semper Fi, Terry Kindlon (Sgt, disability retired, USMC)

Even when Beloved Leader was "campaigning" for his so-called second term he only deigned to talk to the already-converted. And now it has come to the point where Beloved Leader can't travel anywhere outside the country without sparking riots. I suspect Fearless Leader is at the point where he can speak only to those who won't potentially do him harm, who in fact must protect him: the US military. This is what he has done to us, we are tools of his madness.

The GOP revealed their new "White Flag"..."Defeat and Retreat" Ads. They use a uniformed service member at the end. Is it legal to use military personnel in partisan political ads?

When I was in active duty, a service member could not even talk about political affiliation in uniform.

I guess theres some DoD directive that now states "as long as you are out of uniform, you can do as you please" politically.

I am not against our servicepeople having political opinion one bit, but it seems to be quite contradictory when you give up so many of those basic rights and freedoms in order to serve this nation in the first place, that it (the nation) should be so inclined to have to DIRECT you in how you shall or shall not participate and/or NOT participate.

I say don't, and fucking leave it at that.
End of story.

Semper Fidelis

In the Barbecue Republic, the military is a Praetorian Guard. Disgraceful.

I agree with everything all you guys are saying, but military bases are getting to be the only places he can fill the hall so it looks good on TV. It's getting so he's afraid even his 'base' might heckle him.

I never looked at it from that stand point before. That is fucked up. And they say that is the only place he feels comfortable giving speeches is in front of the troops.

Of all the many words unknown to President Chauncey Gardiner, "respect" is the word he needs most to add to his vocabulary. He does not respect the military and uses them as pawns for his own purposes. He does not respect the law, the Constitution, the American people, or even common sense. He believes that his job title makes everything he does okay by definition.

While it's sad to think that the bodies of our servicemen are shipped in the belly of commercial aircraft we have to realize that there is no other practical alternative. That said it's important to maintain the miitary protocal that accords the fallen the respect that he or she earned and deserved. When I returned from Viet Nam I had the honor but not the pleasure of escorting home the body of a fellow Marine who was killed in a training accident in Pensacola. I was briefed on the protocol which included remaining with the body at all times until it was loaded on the aircraft. The casket was to remain covered by the flag until loaded on at which time the flag was to be removed, folded and kept by the escort. The flight crew was briefed and I was given a preferred seat and allowed to exit first to ensure the casket was flag draped as it was removed from the cargo hold. The body was to always moved head first and loaded so that the head of the casket was forward. During layover I remained with the flag draped casket in the cargo area. At the final destination I rode in the hearse with the casket to the funeral home. This was during the Viet Nam war and the airline personel were familar with the protocol and were very respectful. The Marine Corps has always been extremely respectful of it's fallen and it's protocol reflects that but I believe the other services have similar formalities. Hopefully they are followed. It may be difficult in the post 9-11 atmosphere for the escort to follow the casket as we did previously but that is no excuse for failing to provide the proper respect. This is an unecessary war promoted by fools but we should respect the warrior just as we oppose the war.

*note I had an atty's appt yesterday for a pending legal issue, and was unable to attend this funeral. It really bothers me greatly that I was unable to be there.*
- Barndog

The Marine's funeral I was to attend yesterday (in Portland, Michigan - one of the 10 Lurch described in 'Op Wite-Out' *Main and Central.org*), this particular Marine LCPL was shipped home freight class. I had the opportunity to speak with his uncle Jeff (a former high school class mate of mine).

What makes this so disgusting is, not because this Marine was shipped freight class. It is because there is no longer any protocol of Honor remaining. This family lost their father a little over 2 months ago to a sudden and tragic death. Not more than a year or so back they lost another family member to a horrible accident.

Now, this family is manipulated and lied too by the DoD and the Marine Corps over the loss of her Son, who is supposed to be some type of hero? The DoD and Marines LIED to fucking cover their asses.

Well, fuck me in the eyeballs... he died in a goddamm promotion ceremony in an abandoned flour factory, that some poor fuckwad Lt or Capt didn't bother to sweep properly, and it ended up costing Marine's lives. Now, they get to cover their asses on it, and an honest, already heartbroken family has to endure more pain at the expense of some brokedick, worthless political maneuver.

Fucking horseshit.

Someone must fucking pay for this. And, pay dearly.

Semper Fidelis

Thanks for the info Jim. It clears up a lot. I was familiar with commercial freight(Inman Shipping) . Once they've had Colors and Guard on the mainland they can be transferred commercially.

The guard accompaniement I was familiar with was an relative of the deceased. He was training in the Navy at the same time, volunteered when 'Nam was going on aftewr seeing his borther in law's service during peacetime(first in his class).

He went to Hawaai and met the refuel and flew home with his sister's husband.

Was not familiar if it was standard procedure in every instance.

Thanks for the commentary, Jim.

I was speaking with a soldier, recently returned from Afghanistan. His take was that the army "supports who promises them a pay raise".

Couldn't pay me enough to stand there and listen to mr bush babble.

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