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Essay by a new DUer. Casey Sheehan volunteered to serve America, not Bush

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Maddy McCall Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-17-05 03:09 PM
Original message
Essay by a new DUer. Casey Sheehan volunteered to serve America, not Bush
A new member of DU, theknightshift, wrote an essay, but he can't start a thread, because he needs more posts to do so. So I am starting this thread for him, so that more people have the opportunity to read his essay.

I snipped the last eight or so paragraphs of the essay. Please go to his blog to read the essay in its entirity.


Casey Sheehan: He volunteered to serve America, not a President

snip/

The Uniform Code of Military Justice leaves no room for already-enlisted personnel to object to service in a war on the basis that said war is founded in a falsehood: Article 92 makes it illegal to disobey any lawful order, meaning that unlawful orders can and are expected to be disobeyed (Nuremberg settled that 'un bigtime) but an unlawful war is nowhere in the Code's jurisdiction. It's not supposed to be anyway: Whether a war is morally justified is something left not to the soldiers, or to the "elected leaders", but to We the People.

Whatever her motives may be, right or wrong, that is what Cindy Sheehan is doing right now. She is calling for accountability from the government that was established by the Constitution of the United States. A Constitution derived from the consent of the people. A Constitution that her son Casey swore an oath in good faith that his time and talents would be used to uphold and defend to the best of his ability.

But Bush supporters don't want this government – and especially "their man" – to be held accountable. They are the furthest thing from true conservatives that can possibly be: They want power over other people. And they will attack anything that they deem to be a threat to "the way things are". Truly, they do believe that anyone who signs up to serve in the armed forces is cannon fodder without apology for whatever mad plot comes across the mind of George W. Bush.

How dare the extremist Bush supporters seek to shut up this woman? They refuse to attack the message, so instead they opt to attack the messenger. The best way to counter Cindy Sheehan would be to defend the war with as much vigor as Sheehan is giving to denouncing it. But so far they do not seem willing to do this much.

Or could it be that Bush supporters don't really have anything of substance with which to defend this war? The best they can come up with is "we support our President, we support our troops" blah blah blah (as I noted earlier they're wrong to call them "troops") and use that as the primary basis for attacking Sheehan (more than a few times I've seen it suggested that she be tried for treason and hanged).

Well, as I said earlier, and despite some things she has said that I strongly disagree with... Cindy Sheehan could be doing a far greater good in light of this war than most people realize.

Bush is not our king, and he never will be. He is, at most, a bully who was made President through party affiliation and personal connections. And one way or another he must be made to understand something: That no one among the American people will be considered a disposable resource for sake of his own convenience.

Link to the whole essay: http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/2005/08/casey-sheehan-he-volunteered-to-serve.html
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merh Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-17-05 03:15 PM
Response to Original message
1. Great essay!
Edited on Wed Aug-17-05 03:16 PM by merh
Kudos to the new DUer -- Welcome to DU theknightshift :hi:

Thank you for this writing! :patriot:

Edited to add: Nominated to Greatest page! :applause:



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Spazito Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-17-05 03:17 PM
Response to Original message
2. Excellent work!
Thank you for sharing it and WELCOME to DU!
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patdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-17-05 03:25 PM
Response to Original message
3. I came here from the 'other thread'..and find that AMAZING from an ex
freerepublic poster. I understand now why he/she is an ex-freerepublic poster!

Welcome theknightshift! :hi:
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johnnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-17-05 03:36 PM
Response to Original message
4. Great work!
Nominated. This should be read by everyone.
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Stephanie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-17-05 03:38 PM
Response to Original message
5. Bush is not King, he is just a common BULLY
despite what he thinks - nice essay, thank you
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City Lights Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-17-05 03:54 PM
Response to Original message
6. Superb!
:toast:

Welcome to DU, theknightshift. :hi:
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ewagner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-17-05 04:20 PM
Response to Original message
7. I posted something last week
as I said goodbye to our local National Guard Detachment....and proposed a LTTE to somebody else..(my 30 days aren't up yet)

Here's part of the letter:

In the highest tradition of the military our guardsmen are obediently following the orders of the civilian leadership as our Constitution and tradition provides. It matters not whether they agree or disagree with the leadership, they still faithfully obey the Constitution of the United States. For that, we thank them for their noble sacrifice.

We urge all citizens to show tangible support for our troops by either contributing or volunteering to the Red Cross Service to Military Families Program, or perhaps by giving blood, or perhaps just by offering a helping hand to the families and loved ones our troops left behind.




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Nightjock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-17-05 04:36 PM
Response to Original message
8. Beautifully written.
I printed out a few copies to send to a few clueless people.
Nominated.
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Maddy McCall Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-17-05 05:18 PM
Response to Original message
9. kick
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Gay Green Donating Member (485 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-17-05 06:37 PM
Response to Original message
10. Thank you for that splendid essay.
And welcome, theknightshift! :hi:

And thank you, Maddy, for posting it! :loveya:
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Stockholm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:56 AM
Response to Original message
11. Kick!
So, what did your mom think of your blog?
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