[snip]
THAT is where the chills come in, by the way. If you don't find it chilling that we spend trillions on turning people into killing machines and NOTHING on turning them back into functioning humans, then you aren't paying attention.
*leans forward in rocking chair and gestures with pipestem*
I've been watching the nightly news off and on since the early '60s. The novelty of obscenely high offe... er,
defense budgets and PTSD has long since worn off, for me. "The chill is gone", you might say.
[/quote]
Well, grampy, I figgers it like this; y'all done did some fine work, keepin' the faith an' all, and now it's my turn. We gotta keep beatin' the drum and playin' the Woody Guthrie songs 'til someone up in Warshington starts to pay some mind. Let's jest say there's a good reason the blues is still playin'...
</stupid accent>
Seriously, though, it's not a problem that ever goes away. We ebb and flow our way through history, and each generation allows itself to be outraged anew without effectively passing the lesson along to the next one. Despite our shoddy treatment of
WWI veterans, Vietnam vets, and now the guys suffering their way through
Walter Reed, there's always another crop of youngsters behind them believing the recruiting sergeants' B.S. about honor, duty, and integrity. (Apparently only qualities they look for in others... since they seem to evaporate when a servicemember actually tries to claim a benefit.)
</rant>
Okay, now I'll just go back to being entertained.