1 Marine vs. 30 Cops

meh....not sure how to feel about this. Not a fan of using one's military service as a leg up on people in a debate.

 
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I tend to agree..although if not him/them then who?

The noise was getting on my nerves a little..I'm impressed by the restraint showed by NY's finest? And...Without a clear focus of what exactly they're protesting (greed?) I've yet to really delve into the matter..

 
And he seems to by "one-upping" the cops for wearing so much armor against unarmed? civillians instead of (real/war) fighting in Afganastan.

 
Well, either NYPD didn't see the point in trying to talk back, or they were just stupefied. Either way, kind of a lose-lose for them. If they talk back, they're jackasses for disrespecting a soldier with a valid point. If they don't, they look like they just got totally owned.

I will put my feelings about this in these terms: I am an RA at UNO this year, and recently talked with two girls who had two of their roommates (four person rooms) moved out due to a dispute with a boyfriend. The boyfriend was a veteran, and when the now-gone girl and the girls still here got into it, he came out and started yelling at them about how he was a solider and didn't fight overseas to come back to have his girlfriend disrespected like this.

In that case, he ticked me off. I thought he was definitely wrong. That is in no way relevant to the situation, and used his service as a leg up in a personal matter. It's such a cheap move to think military service is a halo that can be used to protect one in every facet of life.

However, in this case, I side with the soldier. In lieu of knowing exactly how they were protesting (whether it was appropriate or not remains to be seen), but he's sticking up for American people exercising their first amendment right. This is a constitutional matter, not a personal one, and I applaud the guy for standing up for them.

 
There was a time when military service was so common it was almost not worth mentioning and if anything the lack of it was noteworthy. Like when McGovern faced Nixon in the election of 72 he was painted as a radical pansy and a friend of the anti-war Vietnam protesters...and he lost. Never did he make it an issue that he was in fact a decorated War Hero and when asked why he failed to play the card he said...

"I think it was a political error, but I always felt kind of foolish talking about my war record—what a hero I was. How do you do that? ... t was not in my nature to turn the campaign into a constant exercise in self-congratulatory autobiography"

 

...so say what you will about McGovern but I wish we could return to a time like that. Men like McGovern understood that service stood by at self as it was. When you polish and present it to the public you often blemish it. I like to think that those that defend their society understand that this is a duty not some kind of messianic act. There's a certain higher level of pride and chivalry in one that does not talk of the debt that the public owes him.

 
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If that was taken from the 'Occupy Wall Street' demonstrations, and the arrests the NYPD was making, then I'm totally on board with the Marine. Peaceful protests are protected under the Bill of Rights, something that seems to be forgotten, especially when the ultra wealthy want the 'eyesore' removed.

 
Ok it bugs me so I'll say it, he's a Marine. Not a Soldier. Not in the Army.

Sorry, had to point it out.
I stand by my statement. Army/marine/navy/air force. They all stand for the same purpose and I respect the fact he fights for our country and his whole family did. Much more noble then me in that aspect. However parading his uniform around just to have his voice heard seems like an improper way to use your uniform.

And in my mind soldier and marine are in the same boat when it comes to fighting for our country. I understand your argument.

 
If that was taken from the 'Occupy Wall Street' demonstrations, and the arrests the NYPD was making, then I'm totally on board with the Marine. Peaceful protests are protected under the Bill of Rights, something that seems to be forgotten, especially when the ultra wealthy want the 'eyesore' removed.
How does he know the cops he was yelling at were involved? That would be like me yelling at him for what happened at Guantanamo Bay. There was nothing peaceful about what he was doing. He made it very clear he was ready to get violent.

 
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