If you are not into political meanderings, you may want to skip this selection. :)

Ok, I was interested in Kerry until I learned that he was a main coordinator of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War "March on Washington" in 1971. After he served his country, he led a march and in the process, tore off the ribbons of his medals and threw them away in protest.

I'll do a little practice MEAPing here and express that although we are granted Freedom of Assembly and Freedom of Speech with the First Amendment, it is undermining the people's faith in the Common Good to claim you are Patriotic and serve your country, and then turn around and stab your country in the back. There are many men who served in Vietnam, did their job, and came back home to lead healthy lives. Whether or not they believed in the cause, they were able to serve the higher purpose, which is if you enjoy the freedoms you have here in the US, you also need to support her government when she calls on you.

Do you find it interesting, gentle reader, that the suicide rate in the active military is the highest it's ever been? I don't believe it's because of what our fighting men are seeing in Iraq or Afghanistan, or the stress that they are under. The men who fought to keep us free from tyranny in World War One and Two saw much worse than what's going on today.

I'm willing to wager we've got a pocket-full of military men who weren't ready to make the sacrifice when they joined up. They were willing to serve in peace, but not in war. It has nothing to do with "military preparedness" or whether we're "doing the right thing" by staying where we're at. If you're called upon to do your duty, you answer the call and serve. The end. If you voluntarily offer your life for your country's defense, you better darn well think it over. No pansy way out like suicide.