John Edwards has a new website, "Support the Troops. End the War."
On the site, Edwards posted a Memorial Day message, via YouTube.
Rather than observe the day with remembrances of the sacrifices that so many Americans have made for our freedom, Edwards is encouraging the country to send a message to George Bush -- END THE WAR.
Watch his message.
Edwards calls for the American people to "engage in an act of patriotism" on Memorial Day.
I don't think it's appropriate to so blatantly politicize the holiday by making it a time to speak out against the President.
Edwards says that the President is "completely ignoring what you have said to him and what the will of the American people is."
He charges, "George Bush has tried to use patriotism as an excuse for everything he's done, including what's happening in Iraq."
"Make it clear that we support the troops. We want to honor their sacrifice, uh, that we are incredibly thankful as a nation for what they've done for us in their service in Iraq. And the best way to honor their service, and the best way to support them, is for the President of the United States to do what America has demanded be done -- and that's to end this war."
I don't get it.
Are libs thankful for what our troops have done in Iraq?
Aren't they brutes who torture and kill civilians and show no regard for human life?
Edwards states that we should be thankful. Does that mean something did go right in Iraq, progress was made, and good things were accomplished?
Edwards encourages Americans to forget the holiday picnics and gather to "show how much you love this country and speak out in support of the troops and bring an end to this war."
Why hijack Memorial Day?
The day is meant to honor Americans who died serving their country.
Edwards wants to contribute to the bastardization of Memorial Day by turning it into an anti-Bush rally this year.
From Edwards' new website:
As citizens, we honor and support our troops for their service and sacrifice.
As Americans, we are blessed by that sacrifice and support, which keeps us safe and keeps us strong.
As patriots, we call on our government to support our troops in the most important way it can - by ending this war and bringing them home.
This Memorial Day weekend, we will all take responsibility for the country we love and the men and women who protect it. We will volunteer, we will pray, and we will speak out. Each of us has a responsibility to act, a duty to our troops and to each other. Support the troops. End the war.
Edwards lists "10 Things You Can Do Over Memorial Weekend to Support the Troops and End the War."
--Get local, get active, and get outdoors. Walk the streets of your neighborhood. Get everyone you know to sign a petition to your local government body—for instance, your town or city council or neighborhood association—to pass a resolution requesting that Congress use its funding authority to support our troops and end the war. Bring the petition to the next meeting.
--Send our troops a taste of home. Go shopping with your kids, your friends, your neighbors, and buy a whole bunch of stuff that would make a soldier happy to receive.
--Gather in public. On Memorial Day, get your friends, kids, co-workers, neighbors, aunts, uncles, grandfathers, grandmothers, and anyone and everyone you know together to publicly support the troops and end the war. Be sure to check with your local authority for any permits you need for public gatherings. Contact local media to publicize your event. Make sure you conduct yourself respectfully—both for those serving in Iraq and the memory of the brave servicemen and women that Memorial Day honors. Share your plans here.
--Pray. Organize a prayer vigil for our troops at your house of worship.
--Make your voice heard in Washington. Call President Bush at (202) 456-1111 or email him at comments@whitehouse.gov. Call your Representative and U.S. Senator and ask them to use their funding power to support our troops and end the war.
--Get vocal. Buy a bunch of poster-board and markers. At a picnic or with family and friends, make signs that say “SUPPORT THE TROOPS - END THE WAR.” Bring them to your local Memorial Day parade. Then take a digital photo of yourself and your family or friends holding up the poster and tell us about it. We’ll include it in a “Democracy Photo Album” on our site.
This one really bothers me.
I don't think a Memorial Day parade should be turned into an anti-war protest. It's disrespectful.
--Greet a vet. Before Memorial Day Weekend gets started, get in touch with the Yellow Ribbon Fund and volunteer to provide welcome-back services and mentorships to injured soldiers returning home.
--Say thank you. Send a thank-you note to our troops through organizations like Let's Say Thanks, A Million Thanks, or Operation Care Packages. Better yet - gather folks together to write thank-you notes at a picnic.
--Help an injured vet. Before Memorial Day Weekend gets underway, contact your local VA Hospital and learn how you can volunteer.
--Light up the night. Get your friends and family together and organize a Memorial Day candlelight vigil to support our troops and end the war.
Volunteering to help veterans, sending care packages to military personnel currently serving, and sending "Thank you" notes to the troops are worthy activities.
The problem with Edwards' suggestions is that he wants these things to be done in the name of disgracing President Bush and the policies of his administration.
Why does Edwards feel a need to reclaim patriotism anyway?
Does he believe that the Democrats have indeed lost their patriotism and they need to prove that they do in fact support the troops and love their country?
Of course, this is a political stunt. Still, if the troops and vets benefit from these political activities, that's a good thing. Doing something positive to help our troops and vets is far more constructive and better than burning Bush in effigy.
I don't like that Edwards is exploiting Memorial Day for a campaign boost. It's sleazy.
The day is one of solemn remembrance for our war dead, it's not "Reclaim Patriotism Day" brought to you by John Edwards.
12 comments:
I don't think a Memorial Day parade should be turned into an anti-war protest. It's disrespectful.
Period. Dot. Bingo.
The man is a horse's ASS. Plain and simple. Oh yeah, there's two Americas alright. One that lives in the real world, the one where people are aware there are those out there that want to whack off their heads. And the other one, where every one is singing around the campfire, singing Kumbaya, toking on the pipe of peace, oblivious to reality.
How dare he even suggest hijacking the memory of those who fought and died for this country with his political BS.
At some point - probably sometime in 1968 - guys like Edwards forgot that there is such a thing as America. It's this place that is bigger than political parties and is the universe to the speck of insect dung that is petty political pandering.
Edward's entire campaign could be summarized as petty political pandering. So, rather than stopping to inspect the insect dung with a microscope - which is precisely what he wants - we should do what Americans do best with this kind of crap: Ignore it on Memorial Day and remember it on election day.
Of course, there probably won't be any need to remember Edward's speck of insect dung of a campaign on election day. It won't be around.
Edwards thinks his ticket to the White House is convincing people that there are two Americas.
He's divisive and opportunistic.
He's not a leader.
Hijacking Memorial Day for his political gain is particularly loathsome.
First the clown tries to parade his wife's cancer for political gain. That's bad enough. But now he's trying to sabotage the most sacred of days to commemorate our country's fallen heroes, our veterans.
Isn't there something that can be done legally about this?
It is disgraceful, but Edwards has the right to be disgraceful.
I always think that the best way to answer an expression of free speech is with more free speech.
I do think this will backfire on Edwards. The disrespect that he's exhibiting is shameful.
Memorial Day is not meant to be used as an opportunity to score political points. It's a remembrance of AMERICA'S fallen and the sacrifice they made for our freedom.
There are two options with this war: stay in or get out.
It is very, very unlikely that we win, if we stay in, no matter what the troops do. In the meantime, we will lose lives and spend billions.
So the only reasonable option is to get out, since we will eventually do it anyway.
So isn't it smarter to do it now and save more of our soldiers' lives?
I don't think there are only two options.
It doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing.
Maintaining a smaller presence and playing a lesser role would be a first step.
A complete, sudden withdrawal would be disastrous, but there's no question that the Iraqis must determine their country's fate.
And John Edwards is a disgrace for his Memorial Day hijack scheme.
The ones exploiting Memorial Day are the ones pretending that you have to support a wrongful war in order to support the troops.
The only real support for the troops has been opposition to this war, since before it started.
And don't lug out the World Trade Center, destroyed by Saddam Hussein's second most mortal enemy (the first being the US, since we stopped helping him build WMDs and started bullying his country).
A real patriot will oppose wrongful things done in his country's name, not blindly defend them lest people think his country's done something wrong.
Our troops volunteer to defend our country, to defend freedom. Neither of those things happened in Iraq, as with so many of the other completely voluntary, foreign wars before it.
Instead, our troops are being exploited so that a president who has more in common with Clinton than with Reagan can build up his own power and Big Government.
The ones exploiting Memorial Day are the ones pretending that you have to support a wrongful war in order to support the troops.
I think Memorial Day shouldn't be politicized at all.
It's a solemn day of remembrance for the nation to join together in gratitude for the sacrifices of the fallen.
John Edwards didn't have the class to respect the meaning of the holiday.
I'm not surprised.
And how would you characterize, if not as politicizing, George W. Bush giving speeches every Memorial Day?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/27/17147/7130
You've got to be kidding, Taka.
It's fitting that the President of the United States, the Commander in Chief, makes a speech on Memorial Day.
Aren't you capable of making a distinction between John Edwards' calls to hijack Memorial Day events and a U.S. president respectfully commemorating the occasion?
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