Get a Grip, People!

Personal anecdote: There is a police car parked outside my office with a "Support Our Troops" sticker on the trunk. Someone walking by stopped, pulled out a permanent marker, and drew a swastika on the sticker.

People, people, people... I'm the first person in any group to use the f-word (fascism) in reference to these criminals we "elected" to run our country. But look:

a) Is there anything more tepid than saying "we support our troops?" It's almost meaningless. Whether or not they're being used in a morally defensible way (World War II), or in a blatantly Dr. Evil take-over-the-world sort of way (Iraq), the troops are still just a pack of frightened 18 - 21 year old kids dying for a cause, however misguided that cause might be. They don't make policy. They just wanted to put food on the table for their families.

b) It's unbecoming of someone who believes in progressive causes to damage private (or in this case, public) property. It makes us all look bad. It's the kind of thing that some right-winger type sees and says, "That's just what I'd expect from one of them damn troop-hatin' liberals."

c) What are you going to solve with a swastika? People turn off when they see stuff like that. Is someone going to see that swastika and think, "yeah - that Bush really is a Nazi." No! They're going to think, "what a fucking moron, comparing supporting the troops to fascism."

d) We're liberals. We DO support the troops, which is why we wouldn't have sent them off on this fool's errand in the first place. Don't forget that. And don't forget that we need them. We're the United States, and regardless of how you feel about this place, if we had no army, we'd be invaded in a heartbeat. Hell, even Sweden has an army.

So stop it, people! You're angry, I understand. I'm angry. But we don't solve the world's problems with graffiti.