With All Thanks and Due Respect

Good evening loyal readers.  Here we find ourselves once again.  Something's going on in the world and I happen to have a little something to say about it.  To quote En Vogue:  "wrote... about it, want to hear it? here it go..."

As we are finally withdrawing our forces from Iraq with all due pomp and circumstance, I would like to take a few minutes and say something to our men and women in uniform that I truly feel they deserve and genuinely do not hear enough:

THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO AND HAVE DONE FOR YOUR COUNTRY!

I hate to have to continue to crib lines from movies to make my points - wait, check that, actually I do like doing that so strike that last bit but continue on - but to paraphrase Jack Nicholson's speech from A Few Good Men these men and women choose to walk those 'walls' so that we don't have to ourselves.  These soldiers are volunteering to place themselves in harm's way to protect this country and our way of life no matter how they may personally feel about the situation and for that I believe they deserve our gratitude.  I promise you that when our members of the armed forces were sitting sweat drenched underwear deep in sand, grit and camel shit while all manner of Hell's IED wrapped fury rained down on them that not one single one of them gave a red-assed-babboon's nut hair about 'probable weapons of mass destruction' or 'securing oil rights.'  All they cared about was getting themselves and their buddies safe and homeward bound.  Patriotism, no matter how it manifests, is a funny thing.  These young men and women did what they did because they took an oath and volunteered to put a boot in the ass of those who needed it courtesy of the red, white, and blue (thank you Toby Keith).  Regardless of politics, regardless of fifty cents a gallon cheaper gas, regardless of how you personally feel about George Bush or Barack Obama, they had a job to do and they got it done.

So don't you think that we owe them a whole shit load more than they are getting from us now that they are currently or are on their way back home?

I'm not trying to get an honorary membership to the VFW here folks.  I've heard horror stories over the past month of veterans of our armed forces going through poverty, neglect, homelessness, and even worse being denied medical and psychological treatment because of some pencil pusher who works for the VA or some other administrative group was too tired that afternoon and late for a golf game to finish filing out someone's authorization for treatment.  I've personally watched two instances of newly returned soldiers being derided by some high and mighty ass ferret because we 'shouldn't have gone to Iraq to start with.'  I've even just today been given the details of a Vietnam-era vet who is being denied treatment by the VA and left to essentially rot in an emergency room in Carteret County due to a desperate act that in reality was a cry of desperation for aid.

I try fairly hard not to get on too large of a soap box on this blog.  I don't try to advance political agendas and the like.  My only goal here is to cry foul when I see it, blow the whistle a bit, and try to get the game moving again as it were.  This, however, needs to called what it is.  It looks like bullshit, it smells like bullshit, and it is 100% Grade A, made in America, July 4th flag napkin covering up dog turd on a picnic blanket BULLSHIT and we should be ashamed of ourselves.

There is a solution, however, and I challenge all of my readers to do this in the coming week.  Take a minute out of your holiday cheer and tell a solider thank you.  That's all.  Just start there.  It's that simple.  If you feel ready to move to the next level, visit a VA hospital, call a veterans service office to volunteer, or hell, just take some cookies to National Guard post for Christmas.  If you really want to get creative, consider looking into and giving money or volunteering your time to a little program called the Wounded Warrior Project.  They are actually doing some good and I think more of us need to be a part of it.  We as a nation owe a large debt to a lot of our citizens and, as a society, I think we're starting to bounce some metaphorical checks.

Thanks for indulging me on this one kids.  We are all going to benefit from the improvements to the corner of the world our military just helped to clean up.  As these folks return home from a job well done, let's make sure we give them their due.  To those of you lucky enough to have a veteran in your life, no matter who they are or where they served or when, take a second over the course of the holidays and tell them thank you for doing their part to ensure that we all continue to have the freedom to argue each year over who gets the drumstick at Christmas dinner.

Enjoy this last week before the holiday!

Oh yeah, as a by the way, I have a little piece of parting advice to all of you as you finish your holiday shopping up over the next few days and prepare to spend time with your family, friends, and/or Chinese restaurant of choice over the coming week.  There are three items that you will not find in any store at this time of year that I have found out are actually in very high demand.  I feel it's in the best interest of my readers to let you in on this information as it will save you a immense amount of stress over the next few days.  First of all, every store in the continental United States is completely sold out of "I Don't Know," as in "what should we get for Uncle John's present - I Don't Know."  I have a great contact in retail merchandising who assures me that the shelves will be stocked with IDK sometime around late January, just when they begin to seriously market tax prep software.  Secondly is "O.F.U."  Yes, the F stands for exactly what you think it does.  Normal stores are already sold out but I understand it can be ordered On Demand like reruns of old HBO movies.  Apparently the best way to receive an expedited order of OFU is to wish a particularly surly person Merry Christmas, as in "Merry Christmas - Oh F. You!"  My understanding is that they are doing a particularly brisk business on this item in most high end car dealerships this time of year.  Finally, there is one product you will not find for sale anywhere but you may actually find yourself in need of during this holiday season:  "F. IT"  The good news is that F. It is actually free and can be found lurking near the bottom of third drink poured at your local tavern of choice.  My understanding is that it takes two drinks to be able to see the F. It clearly and then the third actually allows you to claim your prize.  Be careful though as it has also been brought to my attention that F. It has been blamed for as many as seventy-five percent of all last call hook ups and two-thirds of all unintentional pregnancies. 

Just a little holiday humor spun the Cynical Sarcastic way boys and girls.  Have fun this week and look for another post just before Christmas!