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Edited on Sun Mar-21-10 01:09 PM by 90-percent
I like our servicemen. They serve our country and put their lives on the line so we can be free. However, when I was putting a few dollars into the slot, I tried engaging the Vet at his stand.
"I'm sorry you had to serve in Iraq for a lie." I said.
He said; "Don't you remember all the pictures from 9-11?"
"Going to War against Iraq for 9-11 is like FDR attacking New Zealand after Pearl Harbor."
"We had to get the people that brought down the Twin Towers."
"Nineteen of the hijackers were Saudi Arabians. Why didn't we attack Saudi Arabia? Have a nice day."
I walked to my car, flabbergasted. This guy, well intentioned as he is, seemed like he was not humanly capable of grasping the concept that he, and all others that served with him in Iraq, were used like fodder for a lie in a NEEDLESS AND DAMAGING WAR that probably hurt our national security much more than not going to Iraq would have.
It was a cognitive dissonance moment for me! I saw a Chris Hedges video here on DU and he mentioned that it only takes 40,000 books to get on the New York Times Best Seller list. Pretty insignificant compared to our population of over 300 million. So, presuming being well informed means reading books on the Times list, you could infer that those that don't aren't really well informed.
So, to this day, it would seem that at least a good percentage of military continue to believe Saddam was the mastermind of 9-11! Note my sampling is statistically invalid.
Don't all Americans, including military, have an obligation as citizens to strive to be well informed? How patriotic is it to believe bullshit?
I walked away kind of angry about the whole thing, but I feel it's MY CIVIC DUTY to engage as many around me as possible about the state of our national affairs.
The national discourse seems to be overgrown with false pernicious propaganda.
Boy, did I not even come close to changing this guy's mind, much less opening it! And why bother, it will all be moot this November when the candidates with the most corporate money wins.
-90% jimmy
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