Eleven, no wait, Ten Good Reasons.....

Like most people who dislike the military, David Swanson thinks he knows all about being a soldier, without actually going to all the trouble of having been a soldier.  Or without having any connection to the military at all.  My guess is that this guy could count on one hand all the friends he has who have been in the military. 

Though he has no idea what he's talking about, I do applaud his efforts.  Just as I applauded the efforts of the Quakers when they built the website designed to talk young people out of joining the military.  Like the Quakers, this moron hits all the right points, even though he didn't intend to hit a single one.  He was doing nothing more than parroting the anti-military Lefty talking points that have been forwarded since about the mid-60s.  No original thinking, but then again, when has the Left been known for that?  Anyway, I'd like to thank him on each of his eleven points. 

He starts out with a paragraph that is so full of inaccuracies and clichés that it is pretty easy to guess what the following “eleven” reasons are going to be. 

"The military glorifies the giving and obeying of orders as somehow something good for its own sake, something called "discipline" or "character." I can't judge whether I have either of those things, but I do know the last place I would ever have thought to turn for a career was an institution in which I would have had to do what a bunch of mean bastards said to do simply because they said to do it. That wouldn’t have worked. I'd have ended up a conscientious objector even in peace time."

Of course he's being far too kind to himself.  He wouldn't have ended up as a conscientious objector because the Army is all-volunteer, and if you conscientiously object, or object for any reason, you simply don't join up (I'm reminded of the moron in Stripes who joined "to avoid the draft").  He could, and has, avoided any sort of service to his nation simply by proclaiming he's far too good to do it.  But had he joined, he wouldn't have made it far enough to be a CO.  He would have been boarded out "for the good of the Army" before a week was up at boot camp.  I can guarantee that.  He could have left on the same bus a Jessie MacBeth. 

Now on to his eleven points:

1. You May Be Killed

The military is, of course, the only job at which you can be killed.  All other jobs have rules and regulations prohibiting getting killed.  It's true.  Just ask a cop. 

2. You May Kill Others

You may.  The next time you see a combat medic, ask him how many people he's killed.  He'll be happy to let you know. 

3. You May Be Injured

Maybe.  Once again, by avoiding the military, you can pretty much guarantee never getting injured.  Just as a firefighter. 

4. You May Not Receive Proper Medical Care

Yup. 

5. You May Suffer Long-Term Health Problems

And like #s 1 and 3 above, that just doesn't exist in the civilian work sector.  Just ask a coal miner. 

6. You May Be Lied To

Which is completely different and much worse than being lied about!

7. You May Face Discrimination

Or you may find out that the US Army is the most integrated workplace you could imagine.  Far more integrated than say, the Greenpeace office in Seattle.  Cowards, however, are discriminated against, so yes, David, you personally, may face discrimination.

8. You May Be Ordered to Do Things Against Your Beliefs.  Even if you don't mind following orders that you think might actually have been given for some good reason, what will you do if ordered to murder children?

Of course this Lefty thinks that soldiers are ordered daily to murder children.  And that if they get that order, they have to carry it out.  I guess if you are as much a coward as David knows himself to be, then he probably knows he wouldn't have the balls to do the right thing and refuse to carry out that order.  Cowards are afraid of a lot of things.  David would likely soil his pants if he were ordered out of his car by a cop, never mind being ordered to do something illegal by a person holding an M-4. 

9. You May Find it Difficult to Leave the Military.  You can check in any time you like, but you can never leave.

Never?  The US Army is over 200 years old.  The Marines too.  Navy too.  Does David really think that there are soldiers, Marines and sailors still serving that are over 200 years old?  Perhaps he thinks those soldiers that get too old are murdered by the younger soldiers?  David, people leave the military every day.  Some of us do find it difficult to leave, because we enjoy being a soldier. 

I doubt this is what he was referring to. 

10. You Have Other Choices.

And like I mentioned in the Quaker post linked above, if you don't know that you have other choices, in all things, throughout your life, you need to keep your dumb ass away from my military. 

11.

And after titling his article Eleven Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military David goes on to name only ten reasons.  None of which are excellent.  The ten "reasons" do, however, show how little David understands about the military.  Or soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.  Or patriotism.  Or self-sacrifice.  Or esprit de corps.  But thanks anyway David, if your article keeps one more Lefty like yourself out of our Army, it was worth it. 

Can I give one excellent reason to join the military?  You can serve for twenty years and never run into whiny, self-important cowards like David Swanson who write about things of which they have no knowledge.  That's almost enough to make me go for another 21 years.

Comments

[Crazy Politico]

Outstanding on deconstruction of the idiots points.

Thanks for your service, I appreciate it.

FCC(USN-ret)

[MrSpkr]

I do know the last place I would ever have thought to turn for a career was an institution in which I would have had to do what a bunch of mean bastards said to do simply because they said to do it.

So, Sawnson thinks the DMV is the only viable insitution in which to have a career?

What a loser.

[Subsunk]

Now that's a good reason to enlist.

You have your head on straight, son. Keep up the good work.

Subsunk