Typical of anti-war idiots to be thugs and vandals. All for free speech unless you don't like the speech.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/local/story...6-f676f25b536a

Attached Images

	rogersvandal2.jpg (17.1 KB, 7 views)
USFK Forum Player
	rogersvandal3.jpg (17.0 KB, 7 views)
USFK Forum Player
	vandal.jpg (6.4 KB, 7 views)
USFK Forum Player

__________________
Visit USFK Classifieds, the FREE classifieds in Korea!

Mike..

While I appreciate your sentiment,and share in your disapproval of the vandalism this story talks about.. I have to say, I don't think it's fair to characterize all those who may not be supportive of the administrations policy on war as "idiots, thugs and vandals". Just as with any sort of issue, there are bad apples, people that take it to the extreme, but not everyone who disagrees with the policy of the war is out trashing congressmen's office.. to apply that logic -labelling everyone who isn't supportive of the war because of the actions of a few-..well, one could extrapolate that the military as a whole is bad because of the abusive actions, such as the rapes, etc, that have been perpetrated by a few folks...and we all know that isn't right.

There is a huge difference in supporting the troops,and supporting the policy on the war... I know of more than a few military spouses that don't support the administrations policy on the war, but they're most assuredly supporting their spouses,and the men that serve at their sides with a devotion that's unbelievable...and they're far from uneducated, thuggish, and are usually too busy taking care of their kids, and the issues they encounter on the homefront while their husbands are deployed to vandalize anything! :) LOL :)

As I said, I definitely believe that the actions of the criminals that did this vandalization were *totally* wrong...it's stupid and an affront, and never should happen. Holding an opinion is one thing, exercising your right to free speech in the appropriate manner is one thing, but trashing an office is another matter completely, and is utterly unacceptable behavior. When we get into sweeping generalizations about the character of others, however, especially when it's just because they hold a different perspective on an issue than what we might..it's getting into dangerous territory...

Thanks :)

Dee :)

Go Dee!
Semantics often interfere with what we really mean! Mike will have to handle this one!
A real Idiot is described as "A feebleminded person having a mental age not exceeding three years and requiring complete custodial care", by Webster's Dictionary. I'm not sure an idiot could do much office destruction, even if he/she escaped from custodial care.
But we all will agree that the person or persons who painted up the Congressman's headquarters was doing a bad thing. And that many, if not most of us have more self control, yet we may want to get out of the war situation ASAP also.

I won't group all anti-war folks into this, but you won't see an pro-war guys acting like this. It is one side that attacks army recruiters on Universities and only one side that attacks those that disagre with them. YouTube it littered with anti-war thugs attacking pro-war marchers.

__________________
Visit USFK Classifieds, the FREE classifieds in Korea!

Actually, Mike, again, I respectfully disagree with you..again, I don't have issue at all with the idea that those who committed the acts that spawned this thread are -wrong-, I think it was a horrible,and stupid thing to do,but again, I feel your generalized comments unfairly portray a growing group in society that opposes the war in Iraq.

While indeed, incidents of violence,and thuggish behavior have regrettably occurred, I don't think you can say it's a behavior that's limited to one side of a political philosophy, and not the other. There are many accounts of pro-war protestors interfering with/attacking, wreaking havoc with anti-war protests, YouTube also has a plethora of those online, as well. Neither pro-war, or anti-war protestors have a monopoly on good -or- bad behavior: It's not a clear cut case of black and white, one side good, one side evil, one side the "good guys" , one side the "bad guys".

I feel that examples of this kind of behavior are reflecting less a matter of philosophy or belief and more a matter of the worst side of human nature...it's still vastly unfair to characterize it as an activity or a behavior coming only from one side of an issue.

In any given conflict, any given debate there are folks on either side of the conflict that take their actions to the extreme and showcase the worst possible behavior of humanity. Again, as an example,and solely as an example...are we to take the actions of the few soldiers, -convicted- of crimes against innocents, who have betrayed the trust given to them by their people and government and who have gone against their stated core values in committing these crimes as fully representative of the entire US military? I think not.. it's an example of not the whole political philosophy.. it's an example of individual bad behavior.

The same principle can be applied to anti-war/pro-war activities. There are also some examples in the news, if you look, of pro-war protestors who have "misbehaved" in the name of their beliefs. Are all pro-war supporters like that? Are they all the stereotypical redneck ready to run out and grab their guns and start firing into crowds just because some idiot decided to try to shoot a few rounds off into the air to try to scare some anti war protestors? No,absolutely not..and it's ridiculous to think they are. There have been, all throughout the history of the US, no, the history of the -world- examples of zealots, and extremists who have taken the totally wrong approach to trying to express their beliefs... it's not a new thing, nor is it something that is exclusively anti-war.

And just an observation...if it's "only one side that attacks those who disagree with them"...well.. while you may not be physically attacking those who don't share your political beliefs.. isn't labelling them all as "idiots, thugs, and vandals.." and implying that they're all "violent, and bad" as you have.. a form of an attack in and of itself? It certainly doesn't seem condusive to the propagation of "free speech", to automatically, and -openly- characterize those who might disagree with your political beliefs as "idiots, thugs,and vandals..." ..and so far, I haven't seen anyone here make any commentary at all to indicate that you were somehow a part of the "axis of evil" for your choice in political beliefs.

Maybe it's not just the "other side"..maybe the hatred and bias lies far closer to home, or at least the potential for that kind of hatred and bias, than most would like to believe, or even realize until they really look at themselves.

Unfortunately, that's the nature of humans.

Dee :)

Great points Dee! You are an excellent debater. I will try to reply in a little bit.

__________________
Visit USFK Classifieds, the FREE classifieds in Korea!

Thank you so much, Mike! I'm looking forward to your reply!

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this conversation..it's so nice to be able to really get into an issue and discuss things, even from different points of view, without having tempers flare,and things get personal!

Thank you for your posts, and your points of view..and for providing us with the forum to have these kinds of discussions! :)

Dee :)

Dee,

I definitely get passionate when it comes to anti-war folks that take action. I believe you are correct when saying the majority are not like this and these are a few bad apples. I have seen military recruiters get attacked on campus and basically thrown out. Violence is never a good way to get your point across.

Here is an example of the rabid left disrespecting US soldiers. They are calling ALL U.S. soldiers criminals. They are anti-US and Anti military. This was just on 18 Mar 07.

__________________
Visit USFK Classifieds, the FREE classifieds in Korea!

Here is another from Fox News.

__________________
Visit USFK Classifieds, the FREE classifieds in Korea!