National Guard radio ad heard today: "Protect your community after a tornado! Go to college!"

[Bluebear]

"I joined the Guard to help my community. I get called up if there is a wildfire!"

"I joined to help out after a tornado or a flood, and around here that means every spring! And I get to go to college!"

Etc. etc.

With nary a word about going to Iraq for deployment after bloody deployment. For putting this deceptive ad on the air they should be sued for false advertising.

[rurallib]

1. SURPRISE!!!!

[Catch22Dem]

2. You mean what the Nat'l Guard is SUPPOSED to be?

We need a National Guard. Too bad * has turned them into just another part of the active armed forces. What a fuckin' knob.

[Bluebear]

3. Exactly. The ad would have been accurate in, say, 1999.

[Hobarticus]

6. Still, just as likely to find yourself in Kosovo or Bosnia

as a guardsman in '99.

Sad to say, they never quite point out that the Guard is a reserve force to the actual military, and subject to deployment at the whim of the POTUS. I'm sure a lot of people in right now thought they'd get paid to sandbag during floods or clean up after tornados once in awhile, and now are asking themselves why they're walking point in Baghdad.

[Hobarticus]

5. Actually, the Nat'l Guard has always been deployed in wartime

Quite heavily, as a matter of fact, in WW1 and WW2...

But, we legitimately had our fat in the fire, in those cases. Can't compare this mess to those wars. They are intended as a reserve to regular armed forces, and obviously get abused.

[Catch22Dem]

9. Indeed, but this isn't a declared war

And a good comparison would be Vietnam. It was not common for guard units to be called to active duty during Vietnam. Bush should know...that's where he was hiding.

[Hobarticus]

11. Zactly...

Sorry, made it sound like I was justifying the Guard's deployment, shoulda wrote that better.

[Catch22Dem]

12. I got ya

I knew what you meant when you said this can't be compare to WWI or II. I admit, I wasn't sure at first though. :D

[stevedeshazer]

4. I considered the Guard myself as a younger man.

I'm sure most who joined recently (before the Iraq invasion and Hurricane Katrina) thought much the same.

[Hobarticus]

7. I did too...

But, once I realized that I could get deployed at the drop of a hat, my interest rapidly cooled.

[TlalocW]

8. Oh, I thought if we went to college, we would help protect the community from natural disasters...

I must have missed that class. :)

TlalocW

[Elwood P Dowd]

10. Protect Exxon. Make millions for Bush and Cheney. Bomb civilians.

Murder children. Lose your job and business. Join the National Guard.