The US should maintain strong and ready military forces.
In some cases, the US Armed Forces provide for our physical security. That’s as good as it gets.
In terms of American rights and freedoms-The Dept. of Defense has no more say than the Dept. of Agriculture.
I understand that people are patriotic. I understand that people are proud of their time in uniform. I understand that elected officials want to generate support for overseas military operations.
Making claims that these deployments are linked in any way with American rights and freedoms is fiction.
May 28, 2020 WMAR
Salisbury Mayor deploying to Africa with Maryland National Guard
Several news sources published this quote. View them here.
The idea that sending hometown troops to Africa would be linked in any way with keeping the people of Salisbury Maryland safe and free calls for more discussion.
Mayor Day,
While the troops were deployed, federal law was signed prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to adults age 18-20.
Can you help us to understand the militarized version of freedom here?
December 21st 2019 KOMO News
Legal age to buy cigarettes, vapes raised to 21 nationwide
“Signed into law by President Donald Trump Friday as part of the new $1.4 trillion spending bill, a new measure prohibits the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.”
Local press
Here, in this military town, the local paper seems to go with family friendly and patriotic themes.
A while back, their hometown pride was running high when they posted:
“For the past couple of years, the Whidbey News-Times paid the insurance for the Veterans Day Parade, about $200, because it was a small way of saying thank you to the men and women who sacrificed so that we may have our liberties, including our Freedom of Speech.”
Were US troops sent to Vietnam so that Americans could be free to send letters to the editor?
Is there any case in which the US Armed Forces have been sent to distant lands on a mission to protect freedom of speech?
Military Town – Hometown Pride
As the decades of undeclared/unwon wars stack up (The Department of Defense track record goes back to 1949.) the greater the cultural urge to glorify people who do, or did time in uniform.
If there is an honest reason to send people away into decades of undeclared/unwon wars overseas let’s hear all about it.
Legal marijuana, concealed carry of handguns, semi automatic rifle sales, federal minimum drinking age, sports betting, voting rights, bump stock ban, interracial marriage, gay marriage, tobacco sales, open container laws, etc.
None of these are linked in any way with The Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Troops, The Dept. of Defense or the outcome of military operations overseas.
Why do we pretend that the US Armed Forces function as some sort of giant civil rights organization?
Many veterans claim to have served to protect American rights & freedoms.
How does this work?
Black people were still riding at the back of the bus after the big WWII victory.
Voting
Congressman Derek Kilmer:
Wars are for freedom and democracy.
WA Secretary of State:
“Our right to vote is protected by the extraordinary men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.”
Page 7 of the Washington State Elections Voters Pamphlet for the November 5th, 2019 General Election:
“Our right to vote is protected by the members of the U.S. Armed Forces.”
“Our right to vote has always been protected by the brave men and women who serve in our Armed Forces.”
If a right to vote has always been protected by the brave men and women who serve in our Armed Forces, how come women were not allowed full voting rights at the end of WWI?
Why the need for a 1965 Voting Rights Act if overseas military operations somehow secured voting rights?
Until July of 1971, 18 year old adults did not have full voting rights. Why didn’t US Military operations conducted in the 1940s, 50s & 60s get the job done on this?
One of the nation’s largest, oldest and most respected veterans organizations tells us: Veterans, not politicians, ‘give us the right to vote,’ observers at Amherst Veterans Day ceremonies told
Veterans give rights?
If a right to vote is protected by the US Armed Forces, what becomes of that right when the US leaves Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc., without a victory?
Men Died For the Right to Vote?
Right To Vote Linked To Military Operations/US Troops in Distant Lands?
Claims about freedoms that cry out for questioning:
Two major political parties continue to promote the idea that The Troops are sent to distant lands to fight for American rights and freedoms.
School teachers and newspeople are OK with promoting this urban legend.
In the 60s & 70s I never attended a Veterans Day assembly at school.
There were none.
Probably enough veterans around to remove most of the mystique, or maybe those veterans thought it was all just an average thing and did not want to be seen as a separate part of American society, or get head of the line parking spots over at the grocery store.
Each November, school teachers across America host Veterans Day assemblies– and promote the idea to children that The Troops are in distant lands-fighting for American rights and freedoms-as if the US Armed Forces function as some sort of giant civil rights organization.
In Washington State, these assemblies are mandatory.
The VA tells teachers that The Troops are Defending Liberty and Freedom.
Love to see a student ask: If The Troops fight for your right to sit, stand, kneel, etc.-why were black people still riding at the back of the bus after the big WWII victory?
Love to see a student ask: If the wars aren’t won-how can they protect our freedom?
Love to see a student ask: Whatever happened to lessons about Armistice Day?
1967
Did the Joint Chiefs of Staff send The Troops to safeguard American freedoms?
Was it the Viet Cong that set up laws in 16 US states to prohibit interracial marriage?
How Do The Troops Defend The Constitution?
Not asking about the oath of enlistment. Asking about what happens after the oath has been taken.
Related:
Maybe Get Away From The Bragging About Freedom?
The US Armed Forces – A Giant Civil Rights Organization?
Growing Up In The Cold War Era
Soviet-Style Militarized Pageantry Update
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Photo-
A symbol of a Dept. of Defense with a truly poor track record for winning wars since DOD was established way back in 1949.
A symbol of a Dept. of Defense that was nowhere to be found on 911.
We haven’t won a war since.
A symbol of lies told to support undeclared/unwon wars in distant lands.
A symbol of newspeople not asking questions.