A liberal's view of U.S. troops and why they are not heros

[Lone Ranger]

The author of this article is a liberal who writes for a liberal website. The article was published on Sunday. I wonder if other liberals feel the same. I don't agree with the author.


You don’t protect my freedom: Our childish insistence on calling soldiers heroes deadens real democracyIt's been 70 years since we fought a war about freedom. Forced troop worship and compulsory patriotism must end
Put a man in uniform, preferably a white man, give him a gun, and Americans will worship him. It is a particularly childish trait, of a childlike culture, that insists on anointing all active military members and police officers as “heroes.” The rhetorical sloppiness and intellectual shallowness of affixing such a reverent label to everyone in the military or law enforcement betrays a frightening cultural streak of nationalism, chauvinism, authoritarianism and totalitarianism, but it also makes honest and serious conversations necessary for the maintenance and enhancement of a fragile democracy nearly impossible.
David Masciotra

Read the whole article here: http://www.salon.com/2014/11/09/you_...dish_insistenc e_on_calling_soldiers_heroes_deadens_real_democrac y/

[alphadog]

He's your typical liberal, and amazingly, traditional Americans are labeled by the MSM and the Political Elites as the "extreme" ones in this country.

[Dr Keghead]

They should make toilet paper with his picture on each section. I'd buy a roll...

[ezjerry]

I consider anyone that puts their life on the line to protect my family and/or our rights to be great people. All of them may not be heroes but only because they weren't in the right place and time. All military, police, and fireman are heroes in waiting.

[hparsons]

I started reading this a few days ago, just to see the guy's perspective. As soon as I reached the part that spoke of the "murder" of Michael Brown, I gave it up. I suspect my time would be better spent discussing physics with my 3 year old grandson.

[Lone Ranger]

I started reading this a few days ago, just to see the guy's perspective. As soon as I reached the part that spoke of the "murder" of Michael Brown. I suspect my time would be better spent discussing physics with my 3 year old grandson.

What caught my eye was the author immediately injecting race "Put a man in uniform, preferably a white man...". There are plenty of minorities and women in our services. But the author chooses to ignore that fact in order to advance his arguments.

[jmohme]

I don't know if all soldier are heroes, but I do know that they are all braver men and better Americans than this fool David Masciotra!

[oldguy]

As a vet and the proud father of a soldier I don't think soldiers are heroes they do what they do for many reasons. I do think that heroic actions do occur often. However I agree with nothing this guy says

[gr8phun]

Why read this crap.
Why give them any space in your mind

[alphadog]

Why read this crap.
Why give them any space in your mind

Because the people who believe this "crap" are the ones trying to get control of this country, and they teach this "crap" to our kids...ignoring it doesn't make the problem go away,

[Dr Keghead]

As a vet and the proud father of a soldier I don't think soldiers are heroes they do what they do for many reasons. I do think that heroic actions do occur often. However I agree with nothing this guy says

I'm with you OG... one thing that steams my shorts is when people claim others to be heroes without doing anything heroic. I spent a career in the Air Force without being deployed to a war zone. I am not a hero nor should I be thought of one. I continually hear about sports figures being held up as heroes and that makes me sick. They get paid millions to play games... nothing at all heroic about that. The guys that are sent in harms way and fight for their country and buddies... then that's a whole different story. They are heroes in my mind.

[HBarlow]

In my experience it's the children of the media who call everyone in uniform a hero. They are liberal idiots (sorry, I know liberal and idiot are the same word spelled differently) like the author quoted above.

Like others who posted above - I spent more than 27 years in the Navy and am not a hero and never served with one. I simply did my job and enjoyed it. Fortunately no one was aiming rifles at me or planting IADs in submarines I served in.