I "intimated if we did not like our community, we could leave the country"? I don't know what you were reading, but no where did I say anything about leaving the country, however, if that is your mindset, by all means, feel free....
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Love it or leave it? I did not say that either, and I do not imply that you are saying I did, but do I feel that way? In a sense, I do. I am not saying you should leave, but rather that if you don't like what goes on around you, you have the OPTION, as an American, to move anywhere you choose.
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Olga, I take offense to the implication that I think of anyone as inferior, thereby labeling me as some type of racist. As a minority myself, I take a little extra offense.
I made a suggestion, that if you want to fight about something, join the NAACP or the JDL, both good organizations that do a lot of good for civil rights Of course you failed to mention fighting for the Heroes returning from Iraq and Afghanistan... but from your blog, I can only assume that you have very little respect for the military. I spent the better part of my life defending your right to go and protest. One conflict to take down a dictator in Panama, and another defending another country being over run by another. All in all, twenty years defending our country. What did you do? oh, that's right, you "protested".
Viet Nam, mistake or not, was people in the military doing their duty, with honor. Only to come back to a bunch of cowards spitting on them. Were you also spitting Olga?
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Nor did you mention my suggestion to do something constructive.
Now, I suggest that you take out your Webster Dictionary and look up the word democracy. Just in case you don't have one, I provided it for you:
Definition of DEMOCRACY (taken from Webster's Dictionary)
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: a political unit that has a democratic government
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capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the United States <from emancipation Republicanism to New Deal Democracy — C. M. Roberts>
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: the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority
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: the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges
NO WHERE in that definition does it say "democracy IS dissent". Your version of what I wrote is apparently just your distorted version of what you wanted to see. I actually had a few people read what I wrote, followed with your reply and they all came to the same conclusion... "what was she reading?"
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The following Comment sent by Olga Wolkenstein:
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Mr. Rivera,
It’s unfortunate; you just don’t get it!
End of story.
Olga Wolkenstein
I get it. I fought for it, not sitting on my duff doing a sit in or marching around with a sign that called our servicemen baby killers. I served this country for over twenty years. What did you do?
ReplyDeleteI sacrificed being with my family and went to sea to keep the sea lanes free so you could get the goods and foods and clothing you buy from overseas, what did you do?
I sacrificed seeing my children's first steps, first words, reading bedtime stories so you could have that microwave Made in Japan, what did you do?
In the case of my youngest, I was on a plane heading for Kuwait the day after she was born and didn't see her for five months...what were you doing?
Don't tell I don't get it...I GAVE IT.
And you? Oh, that right, you were " vindicated" because McNamara said Vietnam Nam was a mistake...
Let me give YOU a clue... The ones that hate war aren't the measly protesters...it's the ones that have to go fight it. WE, the fighting American soldier, sailor, airman and marine that put their lives on the line every day so people like you can go out and protest without facing a firing squad or extermination in some other way.
But, no, I don't get it.... Olga, if you ever LIVE it, then maybe you can say that I don't get it. And THAT IS the end of story!
Have a nice day.....:-)
Incredibly powerful, Bob, and brings tears to my eyes. Thank you for your service to this country. We have our share of mistakes, but I don't believe there has ever been a country as magnanimous in warfare as the US. Look at the Marshall Plan. A great writer--was it James Michener?--said that if a country is going to lose a war, lose it to the US. He was writing at the time with Japan in mind. I think it might have been in his book "Hawaii."
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