American Legion Goes Berserk

And, then, so do I.

So, apparently the American Legion, a group with nearly 3 million members, doesn’t believe in the Constitution and will soon be preparing a coronation ceremony for President Bush:

Speaking at its national convention in Honolulu, the group's national commander called for an end to all “public protests” and “media events” against the war, even though they are protected by the Bill of Rights.

"The American Legion will stand against anyone and any group that would demoralize our troops, or worse, endanger their lives by encouraging terrorists to continue their cowardly attacks against freedom-loving peoples," Thomas Cadmus, national commander, told delegates at the group's national convention in Honolulu.

The delegates voted to use whatever means necessary to "ensure the united backing of the American people to support our troops and the global war on terrorism."

What the fuck, exactly, is that even supposed to mean—using whatever means necessary to ensure unified support of the Iraq War? Go ahead, hold a fucking gun to my head, you anti-democratic knobs, and see what happens. Even at the end of a gun I’m not going to support this shit-rife war, and I don’t think I’m alone, so I guess you’d better pull out your liberal hunting licenses and set to work.

In his speech, Cadmus declared: "It would be tragic if the freedoms our veterans fought so valiantly to protect would be used against their successors today as they battle terrorists bent on our destruction.”

Blink. Blink. Apparently it has completely escaped his notice that there are plenty of veterans (including veterans of the very war that’s being protested!) included among the protesters. I’m not sure how this frigging genius reconciles that notion—fought to protect one’s own freedom to protest, but not allowed to practice it? And how about you other veterans out there? Did you fight to protect freedoms so that they may be applied however the president and the American Legion sees fit? I bet not.

Resolution 3, which was passed unanimously by 4,000 delegates to the annual event, states: "The American Legion fully supports the president of the United States, the United States Congress and the men, women and leadership of our armed forces as they are engaged in the global war on terrorism and the troops who are engaged in protecting our values and way of life."

Our values and way of life include freedom of speech and freedom to organize, you unbelievable dickheads! And even though you’ve resolved to use whatever means necessary to forcibly ensure unity in support of the GWOT, there are members of the Congress in addition to members of the armed forces who don’t agree with the Bush administration’s tactics, so I wonder—how do you plan to force them to march in lockstep with your infallible leader with his impressive 40% approval rating?

Cadmus advised: "Let's not repeat the mistakes of our past. I urge all Americans to rally around our armed forces and remember our fellow Americans who were viciously murdered on Sept. 11, 2001."

Oh just shut up.

We all remember 9/11. That doesn’t mean we all honor the memory in the same way. Some of us are actually interested in trying to make sure it doesn't happen again, for real, not by marching all over the globe pretending its remotely possible to kill all the baddies who hate us "for our freedom."