Patrick's Rants

A little over a year ago I was having a ‘debate’ with some Bush supporters, heavy Republicans. I bring this up because as I recall I was debating with a couple of Vets, neither of which actually fought in any war if I remember correctly. I suppose if they read this they may recognize themselves and correct me or they will just bad mouth me to their own detriment
As I recall I was asked if I thought Saddam Hussein was a bad and evil man, if he had mistreated his own people and people of other countries. I said that yes, he was bad, he did those things, mistreating people abusing women, etc. but that’s not what George W Bush said was his reasoning for going into Iraq. In other words the GOP back-pedaling from his own supporters had begun nearly as quickly as the war itself. Part of the discussion involved prostestors who had chained themselves in front of Rick Renzi’s offices in Flagstaff, some about the protestors who had blocked traffic. Interestingly enough, these ‘conservatives’ were in favor of knocking back the right to assemble with a thinly veiled ‘well they’re tying up emergency services, someone could have been hurt or died while they were blocking traffic’. They are absolutely right. But I have to wonder what they think about the protests at Kent State over the Vietnam war, the protests over equal rights in the south, and Rosa Parks’ refusal to stand at the back of the bus. Everyone involved was breaking the law at the time, because the law was unjust, or the cause in Vietnam was costing the lives of US soldiers daily. Should we throw out the first amendment because someone doesn’t like what we may have to say? This is exactly what the first amendment is about. Your right to say things I don’t like. In truth, the full value of protests and the willingness of brave, patriotic Americans to break laws which are unjust is not fully appreciated at the time.
As we ended our discussion, I was asked if I had ever ‘served my country’. Why is it that conservatives think that the only way to ‘serve’ one’s country is to join the armed forces? Our own armed forces are refusing to serve in what they believe to be dangerous and pointless missions. Additionally, over 800 troops have not shown up for duty despite being called up for duty. The administration is trying to quietly resolve the failure of the troops to show up- presumably because they don’t want the troops to say publicly that they don’t believe in the war.
However, my response to the question is that I have and do serve my country: I vote. Serve your country, vote, protest, exercise your constitutional rights support the constitution.