A soldier's view on MJ's death

[Philosoraptor]

http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=2228985#comments

Why is it that when ONE man dies, the whole of America loses
their minds with grief. When a man dies whose only contribution
to the country was to ENTERTAIN people, the American people find
the need to flock to a memorial in Hollywood, and even Congress
sees the need to hold a "moment of silence" for his passing?

Am I missing something here? ONE man dies, and all of a sudden he's a freaking martyr because he entertained us for a few decades? What about all those SOLDIERS who have died to give us freedom? All those Soldiers who, knowing that they would be asked to fight in a war, still raised their hands and swore to defend the Constitution and the United States of America. Where is their moment of silence? Where are the people flocking to
their graves or memorials and mourning over them because they
made the ultimate sacrifice? Why is it when a Soldier dies,
there are more people saying "good riddance," and "thank God for
IEDs?" When did this country become so calloused to the
sacrifice of GOOD MEN and WOMEN, that they can arbitrarily blow
off their deaths, and instead, throw themselves into mourning for a "Pop Icon?"

I think that if they are going to hold a moment of silence IN
CONGRESS for Michael Jackson, they need to hold a moment of
silence for every service member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They need to PUBLICLY recognize every life that has been lost so that the American people can live their callous little lives in the luxury and freedom that WE, those that are living and those that have gone on, have provided for them. But, wait, that would take too much time, because there have been so many willing to make that sacrifice. After all, we will never make millions of dollars. We will never star
in movies, or write hit songs that the world will listen to. We
only shed our blood, sweat and tears so that people can enjoy
what they have.

[shadowknows69]

1. Personally I don't subscribe to the whole "they're dying for our freedoms" thing

But they are dying still and they have been largely forgotten. This soldier is right to be pissed.

[saigon68]

5. They are dying for THE RICH in this country.

The ones who make more than $400,000.00 a year.

The ones pampered and protected by the Repukes.

The ones who make up the rules for themselves (Those who have the gold make the rules)

Fuck the Rich

Get wise little soldier, you are nothing but a Pawn in a very dangerous game.

[shadowknows69]

8. What sucks is many of them know that. It's just another shitty job to make ends meet.

Defending the freedoms of young people to have no other option in life for employment except the military so they can go die to defend our freedoms; and Orobouros rolls on the floor laughing.

[Philosoraptor]

9. I've talked to several returning soldiers who agree

[shadowknows69]

10. I talked to hundreds

[greguganus]

14. So they are dying for the Michael Jacksons in this country. n/t

[saigon68]

20. NO NOT for the Pedophiles of amerika

The Cheney and Chimp crowd of multi Billionaires and corporate THUGS and Hoodlums

[CBGLuthier]

2. Oh Bullshit

Who says thank God for IEDS?

What a whiny ass warrior.

Fuck him. and Fuck MJ too for that matter.

[Bluzmann57]

3. Bravo!

Very well said.

[hlthe2b]

4. Perhaps if the hiding of the military dead by GWB* had not been

tolerated, allowing the coffins to come back to Dover in utter secrecy under cover of darkness, if the Bush* DOD had been countered by military families who wanted the press to cover the funerals of their sacrificed loved ones with pride, perhaps if they had demanded accuracy in accounting for the war dead (that Bush* was all too intent on reclassifying as "non-combat related" for political cover), perhaps all Americans might be far more aware of each and every life lost in service to this country. Who is to blame?

[DrDan]

6. oh boy - this is going to incense some MJ fans here

:popcorn: :popcorn:

[hlthe2b]

7. Why wouldn't MJ fans also appreciate the need to commemorate

our military dead? Why is it an either/or? My question is purely rhetorical. I do not represent the MJ fan masses.

[DrDan]

11. sure - I agree - we have enough energy in ourselves to commemorate both

but . . . I also feel the MJ fans were over-the-top with their mourning. Most did not personally know him. Most had never met him. Yet they overly distraught beyond the pale. He was an entertainer - a wealthy one. Nothing more - imo. The continual coverage fed this frenzy, of course.

[Solomon]

12. And this changes nothing.

Whine whine all you want about the adolation of Jackson. Nothing you or I can do about it. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other. I heard none of this uproar when Bush made soldiers completely anonymous, not even allowing the returning caskets to be seen. All the while he's preening around the world with a codpiece on his nuts. Oh there were some complaining, but no where near like this. Completely anonymous. But because a lot of people made a big deal over Jackson's death, we get this kind of false equivalency.

I agree that the soldiers should get more consideration. But shitting on somebody else is not the way to get it.

[Blue_Tires]

13. who in fuck's name says "good riddance"??

i pretty much stopped reading after that...this "soldier" is making this shit up and he knows it...

and FWIW the American war dead have numerous state and national holidays, along with tens of thousands of monuments nationwide... But why interject reality into an astroturf-y internet rant??

[predfan]

15. Exactly..........that's the give away. I had this e-mailed a week or so ago, and actually read it,

and the "good riddance" crap told me all I needed. The fact that it came off a right wing rag clinched it.

[superduperfarleft]

16. Jingoistic BS.

Nothing's worse than a soldier with an overinflated sense of entitlement. I'd rather mourn the victims of our occupation than some macho asshole who wants everyone to prostrate themselves at his feet every time he takes a shit because of the dubious claim that he is "protecting my freedom."

[obliviously]

19. Most of the freekish posts

on this thread don't deserve to be read let alone answered!

[Lex]

17. Why is it when someone OTHER than a soldier dies and people are sad,

someone wags a finger about how we aren't giving proper respect to soldiers?

[Bucky]

18. This is why Pelosi put the kybosh on a Congressional commemoration of Jackson

She is a wise Latina for doing that.

[JI7]

22. no, that wasn't why, it was because of the controversies surrounding Jackson

the whole pedophile accusations, drugs etc. even if he was found not guilty.

Congress regularly does stupid shit like honor Reagan on his birthday even though he is dead now. but they honored Frank Sinatra and they will honor other entertainers in the future.

[JI7]

21. what happens if a gay soldier dies ?

this is stupid. one has nothing to do with the other. any issues concerning soldiers and whether they are getting enough attention or anything else was there even before Jackson died.

there are homeless veterans and it has nothing to do with the attention Jackson or any other famous celeb might get if they die or for anything else.

and soldiers who have died in recent wars had nothing to do with protecting freedom of speech. look at the way that Veteran John Kerry was treated.

this whole piece is just stupid and reminds me of Sarah Palin bringing up the troops and protecting freedom of speech during the whole Letterman joke thing.