[Note]:This is an opinion article – it is an opinion. By reading it you acknowledge that I have an opinion. If you think I don’t have one, please stop reading. If you think I’m proporting everything in this as fact, you’re wrong. And now back to our show….
So I watched the Moore vs. O’Reilly footage on FoxNews.com and I have to say that the time was limited and Mr. O’Rielly is a bit of an antagonist as a host [Michael Moore is not an antagonist either ;)]. That aside I was concerned with Michael Moore’s main argument which was that President Bush sent people’s kids over to Iraq and they were victims of some scheme that tricked them into a situation where they could die. Arguments about Bush’s honesty aside, if you sign up to be a soldier you are signing up to potentially go lay your life down.
Death in combat is an honorable thing and so I do not want to belittle anyone who is a soldier, but I am concerned that Michael Moore paints a picture that 12 year old US citizens are out there getting shot at because they were held hostage by the Bush administration. Soldiers are eighteen years or older to my knowledge – legal adults with full voting rights [apparently drinking and gambling are still too sophisticated for them though]. I chose to not join the miltary at a young age (unless drafted) because I did not want to lay my life down for this country. Bill Clinton, ex-President of the Untied States [that’s a joke] chose not to lay his life down as well (and boy was he heckled for that – this means you can heckle me for the same) and that is legitimate. However, if you join the military you put yourself at the mercy of a small "handful" of people in power who can send you to death on the battle lines.
[Note]:Remember this is an opinion article
I don’t like how the war in Iraq has turned into another US babysitting job, I don’t like how the US is babysitting much of the globe. I don’t like how the UN (should that be United Notions instead?) handles things either (I generally don’t like the UN). I think that much of the situation that has developed since 9/11 has been completely ignored: this is spiritual and not political. Muslim fundamentalists do not care if you’re politically aligned with the Republicans or the Democrats – they care if you’re aligned with Allah!
As a contrast, I don’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat either – I care if you’re in fellowship with Jesus Christ.
[Note]: This is still an opinion article
OK, I’m done now. I do want your comments if you can explain to me how the soldiers didn’t know that they could die when signing up. And if that’s the case I think we should utterly destroy the GI bill so that soldiers join the military for the sole purpose of being soldiers.
[Note]: This is no longer an opinion article
Moore’s argument is part of what is in his movie, F9/11. The rich are getting richer by tax cuts and CEO type salaries. The middle class is disappearing. In places like Flint, Michigan, where Moore is from, jobs have disappeared like wildfire. These people have to make a living somehow – and the military is an option for them. The movie shows [insert name of military branch here] recruiters deliberately choosing to go to the “poor mall” instead of the nicer mall down the road to try to recruit. They tell a couple of African American kids that Shaggy was a marine (the singer, not the guy from Scooby Doo) to make it more attractive.
Moore’s argument is what choice do these kids have, especially if they want to go to college? I guess if you’ve not seen the movie but you’ve seen the interview, it would be a bit out of context.
Note that I do not necessarily agree or disagree, but just wanted to clarify :).
I wonder how much of F9/11 isn’t staged though… I can’t put my finger on it, but for some reason I don’t really like or trust Moore. He just seems slightly fake… almost as if he over-dramatises things.
Dunno…
I think the thing that gets me is that the men and women recruiters sign up, no matter which mall they go to, are still legally adults – they decide to sign up knowing they may/will go to war. American citizens (usually) are the ones responsible for creating or destroying jobs, not the government. Heck the government keeps around bureaus long after they’ve exceeded their usefulness just so Dave Barry can mock them.