At the heart of the treatment of our soldiers is contempt.

[babylonsister]

Imus hit the nail on the head this morning. Regardless of whether you love him or hate him, this is his observation and I think it's spot on.
The contempt was evident when these troops were sent into Iraq to begin with, without adequate equipment, armor, food, water.
The contempt is evidenced by flying coffins into Dover AFB and landing in the middle of the night so no one can honor them, much less view them. That goes for wounded soldiers that are shuffled around in the dead of night.
The contempt is palpable when not one official from this admin has had the pathos to go to a funeral.
And finally, contempt is written all over the tragedy that is Walter Reed, and all the other outdated, rundown, obsolete military facilities that care for our soldiers. And while I know there are certainly people working in these facilities that do care, I just can feel contempt from the brass who have acted so cavalierly since this fiasco was uncovered.

[G_j]

1. absolutely!!!!!

spot on

[tk2kewl]

2. the contempt begins with sending them to fight under false pretenses

against international law and in violation of the Constitution they are sworn to protect

K&R :kick:

[babylonsister]

4. You're absolutely right; I'm sure there are many more instances.

These were just off the top of my head.
How about not giving the soldiers the disability they deserve? Cutting funding for troops? What gets me is that it's so obvious now; they are so 'in your face' about it and don't seem to care. That's more contempt, for the soldiers and the citizens. :grr:

[Monkeyman]

3. contempt is not what this vet has I will be nice you call all fill in the blanks

Blank Blank Blank

[calimary]

7. Yeah, but you've been there. You know what these men and women

face every day, and how they're utterly defiled by the treatment they're getting. You're different. It's these selfish, cheapskate hyenas out there wrapping themselves in the flag who've never served and who only care about how much more of their taxes can be cut.

[sce56]

12. Yes indeed and how much more they can cut out of the VA Budget to save their Tax cuts

Greed Greed Greed using the troops for their own greed to make money off of and use to fight an illegitimate war while filling the bank accounts of Bush Family and Friends! They do not care or support the troops just support getting them to Iraq and that is it.


Bush's replacement medal for the Purple Heart

[DeepModem Mom]

5. I heard that! "Comtempt." K&R!

[calimary]

6. Rec #5! Get thee to the Greatest page!

I, too, think that's spot-on. The proof comes from the forked tongues of everyone and anyone who says "they volunteered for this. I don't have to show them any sympathy. Tough luck! They knew what they were getting into."

The response might be: "well, why don't YOU suit up and go over there and show them how they're supposed to behave, then?"

[loyalsister]

8. It's tradition

It's why plastic surgery is a legitimate medical practice in America.
It's why there was no evacuation plan for hospitals or nursing homes in NO during Katrina and numerous people with disabilities died. It's also why it goes rarely if ever mentioned.
It's the self loathing that leads women of average size to believe they need to puke to be beautiful.
It's because we have a country that want to keep the different and "ugly" hidden.

It's about civilians AND soldiers.
Kennedy extended Voc Rehab to civilians.
Following the Vietnam war soldiers joined civilians to call for broad policies that would offer disability supports and services.
We have to shift our ideals and priorities or these kinds of incidents will continue.

[Joe Chi Minh]

9. To hear that nothing of a lieutenant general then say he was the best able

to put things right - or words to that effect! Unbelievable, even from such low-lifes.

[Morgana LaFey]

10. I'm not totally sold on "contempt" -- I rather think it's worse than that

Or maybe it's all the same thing.

To me, tho, contempt implies that you give a damn -- not a positive damn, but the negative regard is at least active.

Our troops haven't been ACTIVELy despised, they've been treated as nonentities or perhaps just "things." We don't usually have contempt for "things," but we sure can have a level of disregard that allows the harm and death that befall them simply meaningless, not worth thiking about.

It's really a level BELOW contempt (and thus the term: below contempt, I guess). They don't care ENOUGH to have contempt -- our sons and daughters are merely expendable objects. They've been completely and totally objectified.

[Strawman]

14. I think you are absolutely right

And any recognition of our soldiers is always framed by Bushbots in terms of Bush's political project. They are always objects. Always used. The taboo thing to say is that their lives were "wasted." What is untouchable in this taboo is criticism of Bush's mission. Why not just talk about our fallen soldiers as people? Who they were, what they loved, who they left behind? Their lives meant something before. They didn't need an unnecessary war to give their lives meaning. It's a sick irony that these tragic stories became the glue that has held this project together for so long in the minds of so many people.

Bush and Cheney got to monopolize the meaning of "suporting our troops" for way too long. They got to stop people from seeing flag draped coffins. Finally this discourse of supporting our troops has been turned against them. Finally.

[Morgana LaFey]

15. Exquisitely stated. Thank you.

Just brilliant.

[kestrel91316]

11. Of course it is. Contempt for the poor, the disadvantaged, the

non-white, the folks who haven't a prayer of going to Yale.

They are mere cannon fodder.

[Clark2008]

13. Yet, the rightwingers still shell out that Clinton "loathing" the military line.

Clinton may not have wanted to serve, but he didn't treat these HUMAN BEINGS with contempt.