The Cluelessness Of Columnists

Joel Stein, LA Times columnist, had this column up today. I am not citing it, as reading it the second time through just continued to raise my blood pressure. Needless to say, Mr. Stein does not support our troops because he does not support the mission they are on.

(UPDATE: 6:11pm AZ Time--Many people have already sent e-mails to Thomas requesting that the column be put up here on the site. They have repeatedly said that they expected it to be up, and I apologize for not citing it in its entirety. They are correct: The idiocy deserves to be seen, and read before it disappears because Mr. Stein is under heavy fire from people that have learned of this column. Hugh, in short, blew on the embers of a smoldering story, and it is now a wildfire. And, as an aside, I would like to emphasize that I DO SUPPORT the trrops, and I SUPPORT the mission. Let there be no equivocation of this fool's tripe published by the floundering LA Times. Is there any wonder why they are slowly dying after one reads the following?)


I DON’T SUPPORT our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car. Supporting the troops is a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on.

I’m sure I’d like the troops. They seem gutsy, young and up for anything. If you’re wandering into a recruiter’s office and signing up for eight years of unknown danger, I want to hang with you in Vegas.

And I’ve got no problem with other people — the ones who were for the Iraq war — supporting the troops. If you think invading Iraq was a good idea, then by all means, support away. Load up on those patriotic magnets and bracelets and other trinkets the Chinese are making money off of.

But I’m not for the war. And being against the war and saying you support the troops is one of the wussiest positions the pacifists have ever taken — and they’re wussy by definition. It’s as if the one lesson they took away from Vietnam wasn’t to avoid foreign conflicts with no pressing national interest but to remember to throw a parade afterward. ...

I do sympathize with people who joined up to protect our country, especially after 9/11, and were tricked into fighting in Iraq. I get mad when I’m tricked into clicking on a pop-up ad, so I can only imagine how they feel. ...

I know this is all easy to say for a guy who grew up with money, did well in school and hasn’t so much as served on jury duty for his country. But it’s really not that easy to say because anyone remotely affiliated with the military could easily beat me up, and I’m listed in the phone book.

I’m not advocating that we spit on returning veterans like they did after the Vietnam War, but we shouldn’t be celebrating people for doing something we don’t think was a good idea. All I’m asking is that we give our returning soldiers what they need: hospitals, pensions, mental health and a safe, immediate return. But, please, no parades.

Seriously, the traffic is insufferable.

Hugh Hewitt not only posted his thoughts regarding the column--one that invoked an avalanche of E-mails to Hugh in anger over the column--but he also conducted an interview with him. Generalissimo Duane should have the transcript of the interview up shortly ... hopefully.

The interview was to the point from Hugh. His questions were pointed and direct. And as Hugh showed, he is entitled to his opinion, however he is utterly uninformed and uneducated in regard to the military. Mr. Stein supports no action of our troops in defense of this nation abraod. If they are invited into a nation, or are helping with humanitarian causes, he has no problem with them. But if it comes to hostilities, he is against the mission altogether, and therefore against the troops.

He reminds me so much of my father that it is sickening, except the fact the Mr. Stein is far more chipper than my father, and Mr. Stein has not turned his back on family members or friends that are serving. My father did so with my brother; incensed over his decision to join the Army after 9/11, my father forbade him from returning to the home he grew up in. Now, my father is an ass; someday I will forgive him, but not today.

And I also do not forgive Mr. Stein for his nutty stance. In the end, according to Mr. Stein, it seemed as though he was criticizing people who claim they support the troops, but abhor the mission. In his opinion, those people that claim that are hypocritical. I, too, feel that. But mine is a bit different. I do support the mission, and therefore the troops in like kind. I really feel that I have no choice in this matter. America was attacked, and we are defending ourselves. My brother decided to join--feeling that he had to do something else than watch this war unfold on TV--and with his decision comes my support of him and every other soldier that serves.

The troops are standing in the lion's den--in harm's way--and people like Mr. Stein who simply do not understand this war and the world today are quite astutely ignorant. This theory that he has that our troops should not be abroad unless they are on non-violent missions is pure nonsense. Our enemies will never hit this nation unless it is through the acts of cowardice that were utilized on 9/11. No nation in their right mind would attempt an invasion of this nation. So, the idea that our military would only need to utilize the skills they are trained in only on US soil is completely ludicrous. The world is a dangerous place, and we would rather that the enemy were engaged elsewhere, and not in American streets.

Mr. Stein should do some reading. I suggest he start on the blogs, and go to Col. Austin Bay, BlackFive, Michael Yon who is a former Special Operations serviceman, and Mudville Gazette which has the classic reminder at the top of their home page as to the duty of our troops, and the service they provide.

"Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

Mr. Stein and his Left-leaning colleagues do not seem to understand the above, and they never will. He is as clueless as clueless comes.

The Bunny ;)