Opinon or Garbage?

It's a different thing altogether though, for a newspaper to print such garbage and even add flame to the fire by adding a title saying, " 'Old Glory' - 'a piece of flare'" which I supposed was a misspelling of the writer's quote of Mr. Harper saying a "piece of flair".

But why should the I.J. worry about a little thing like spelling when neither fact nor fairness concerns them?  Is it time to stop thinking of the I.J. as a "respected" newspaper?

Of course, Mr. Harper wasn't referring to "Old Glory" but a piece of metal shaped into a flag pin. A pin that has, for many, come to symbolize support for Dick Cheney's war - a war which the majority of Americans do not support. A war where we attacked a country that posed no threat to us. A war that got authorized by telling lies to the American people and to our political representatives.

Mr. Gibson apparently feels he has the right to speak for all American veterans, both dead and alive, but I am one veteran, who has not given Mr. Gibson that right. I am alive only because our Southeast Asian enemies were a few inches off in their accuracy and because my M-60 put an end to their threat, so I would not recommend that Mr. Gibson call me unAmerican if I stand reverently, with my hands clasped during the national anthem rather than with my hand over my heart - the very same thing that enraged Mr. Gibson when done by Barak Obama. 

All who've read the works of George Orwell or Ayn Rand, or history students of the Nazis in WWII will understand that icon 'worship' and ritualistic salutes are the marks of dictatorships, not democracies.  America is powerful enough to even allow flag burning because it is our ideals, not our icons, not even our leaders, that make us Americans. If Mr. Gibson is sincerely concerned about Mr. Obama's beliefs, he would be well-served by reading the two books authored by Barak Obama.  But then, Mr. Gibson may not want to cloud his ranting with facts and logic.

Where is Mr. Gibson's outrage at George Bush for lying to us all to get us into a war that has killed thousands of our soldiers and maimed many more?  Where is Mr. Gibson's outrage at George Bush for contracting work to corporations that is normally done by our own military and then allowing them  to loot our treasury with outrageous billing practices and outright fraud and theft?   Where is Mr. Gibson's outrage at Bush for mortgaging our children's future with debt to finance his war and his tax breaks for the rich - practices which have devalued our dollar and created inflation?  In fact, what we now have is "Stag-Flation", the perfect storm of economic maladies.

Mr. Gibson is aparently OK with all that.  Just don't stand reverently with hands clasped during the national anthem. He certainly has his priorities in order!

I have no problem with those who argue on the basis of their politicians proposals or those of their opponents. After all, that's exactly what democracy is supposed to be about - the issues. But when someone wraps themselves in their religion or in "patriotism", attempting to smear their opponents with the label of being "un Godly" or "un American", I would hope that our readers are way too intelligent to fall for it, and they would instead shake their heads at the ignorance and wonder what the world is coming to when a newspaper prints such garbage.

Note: So you'll know this is not written by some "left-wing liberal" - I share the blame for our current political situation, since I voted for George Bush and "Darth Vader" Cheney, both times.  I will not be voting Republican this time however, since I feel our foreign policy and economic policy need revamping and the big companies who are thriving off the blood of our soldiers and the dollars of the American taxpayers need to have their influence severely curtailed.