You know, the older I get, the more philosophical I get. This can be a good thing, except when I am dealing with my younger soldiers, you know, the ones that don’t think about what they are saying, but they expect me to understand it anyway. But, I digress.
All of the people that protest and gather and speak their minds are exercising their rights as granted in the Bill of Rights (you know, the first ten Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America). I can honestly say that that is a good thing, after all, I have had to deal with direct government interference in my life for the last eighteen years, and I only have a few more until they can KISS OFF. Ooops, there I go, digressing, again.
There are, however (comma), two things that I don’t understand:
First is the fact that, when these protestors get out there to protest at a fallen soldier’s (or Marine, Sailor, Coast Guardsman, Airman, I have been in the Army for 18 years, that’s how I think) funeral, they are actually complimenting the fallen soldier, no matter how sickening, ridiculous, or hateful their message.
I know that it seems like a stretch, but, hear me out. These individuals are exercising rights (the right to free speech and the right to assemble) provided for in the aforementioned (yep, I just slipped “aforementioned†into a blog post, HEH) Bill of Rights. Now, that document is defended by the very same military that these people are protesting. For those of you that missed it, the oath that every member of the military swears when they join and when they reenlist starts with, “I, (state your full name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;†now, that being said, the very act of protesting is a compliment to the military, and, to the fallen that gave their lives to protect and defend the document that grants those rights.
Am I the only one that sees the irony there? I mean, you do something that my service ALLOWS you to do, and I’m supposed to get upset? Mind you, what they say sometimes disgusts me, and it ALWAYS confuses me, but I come away with an odd sense of peace knowing that me and my comrades have given these people the rights that they are exercising.
Second is the fact that the people that defend the freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and freedom of religion (which, by the way, is usually a misinterpretation of the actual amendment – read it for yourself, you’ll see) are the ones that violently oppose the second amendment, you know, the one that allows people to defend themselves and their rights.
Mind you, in today’s world, it is unlikely that, without the second Amendment, the government would become a tyranny, however, the possibility is there, and my (and my friends’) guns are the only thing preventing that.
Have you noticed that the loudest groups against gun ownership tend to not live in the same reality that I do? They don’t understand that, no matter what, some people are going to be violent; some people are going to oppress and kill; some people are going to steal and rape. You cannot change these people, you can only defend yourself, and my right to defend myself is granted by the second Amendment to the Constitution. Hmmmmmmmmm, they like some of it, but not this part, and now they are trying to go around it.
When are they going to figure out that if you circumvent the document that gives the government it’s authority and power, you make the ENTIRE DOCUMENT null and void, thereby (HEY! I got “thereby†into the same post) weakening the government, eventually leading to our way of life going away…
Just my thoughts…
Carlo
