Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler OT: politics

Littleb - That was pretty funny.

BigWill... That was doggone funny, too...

There were two letters in the paper today that blew me away here's the first:

Salute service and the flag

I am a World War II veteran (1943-49). I served in Europe and fought through France and Germany, and ended up in Austria in 1945. I am 81 years old, on Social Security and living with my daughter because I can't work. And I would like to have a flag, but I have to buy one sometimes at a yard sale or swap meet.

This is the flag that I love; it stands for a lot of broken hearts of mothers, sisters, brothers, friends, wives, fathers and all. I am very proud of my country. When I see my flag I get goose bumps, I shed a tear.

This country doesn't owe me anything because I fought for it. I would gladly do it again if I had to.

RUBEN PETERS

Riverside


and the second:

The new citizen-patriots

Two-hundred and twenty-odd years ago a small group of poorly armed citizen-patriots stood behind trees and attacked the organized regiments of Redcoats whom they thought were illegal occupiers of their country. Today we call these fellows heroes and our Constitution contains a Second Amendment stating "A well organized Militia, being necessary ... the right to bear arms shall not be abridged."

Today we are the invaders-occupiers. We call the citizen-patriots in Iraq "insurgents" or "terrorists." We demand that all militias there be disarmed or destroyed, we bomb and advance artillery and tanks through neighborhoods, and we state, despite agreements with local leaders and the "interim government," that "Our troops will go in and out as always" (The P-E, Aug.30).

This is not al-Qaida. These are patriots who attack us only when we invade their territory. We were probably wrong to invade, and we are definitely wrong to occupy this nation.

ALAN WILLIAMS

Riverside

Wow! How perspective can vary, huh?

Anyone want to wager a pair of M-80's on this ? My money is on Mr. William's being a BIG proponent of gun control here... As for comparing these terrorists to George Washington, it is as stupid a notion as I have ever heard.

We have some wackos out here.

OTOH, the old timer's letter made me tear up both times I read it.

BigWill, I hear you. The gentleman we bought our first dealership from fought in WWII, worked in the FBI for 10 years, then for Ford Motor, before buying the dealership in 1964... His views, and dedication to freedom... are very heart warming.

"The lack of an attack on our homeland is not proof that we are safer. The country felt pretty safe on 9/10/01, didn't it?"

True but if we were attacked again it would be blamed on Bush. He has done some things well (maybe too well) and some things have not been taken care of. Just like Clinton.

Gentlemen... Take a HARD look at Russia.. They thought we were on the wrong side of fighting terror... there was temporary profit in their position... now there are 100's dead ... noone likes war. ever. But we either fight... or die.

Craigsub,

I could be wrong and I certainly am somewhat ignorant still - but I thought Russia has been coming down HARD on "terrorists" for quite a while in Chechnya.

(I do believe that the Chechnyan militants - like Al Queda - are truly terrorists. But that does not mean their views are all wrong. Just some of them - to a terrible extent.)

Again, correct me if I am wrong.

And Israel - how far have they gotten by coming down very hard on the Palestinans?

Not that we should blithely go into these encounters with no guns and a purely pacifist stance - but some discretion and attention to the other sides concerns is necessary.