According to this article in the Mountain Xpress, Veteran-haters, America-haters, anti-War types, and Progressives don't want the following poem included on a Veterans Memorial planned for Asheville (despite Lefty attempts to kill lit) sometime soon:
It is the Veteran...
It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion
It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press
It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech
It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble
It is the VETERAN, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote
It is the VETERAN
Who salutes the flag
Who serves under the flag
Whose coffin is draped by the flag.
Thank you Veterans.
I ran across the controversy on a local Yahoo! Group, where noted Progressives were trying to insist that the poem denigrated, or put down everyone except soldiers (when the poem mentions veterans), and in the Xpress article some even reaching into their nether regions to drag forth various reasons to protest:
Wally Bowen was watching BCTV, the county-government access channel, when a poem titled “It is the Veteran” appeared on the screen during a brief segment on the planned WNC Veterans Memorial. Bowen, who is executive director of the nonprofit Mountain Area Information Network, says he’d been considering buying a brick on the memorial (for a donation of $500 or more), but he has problems with the choice of poem.“I support veterans,” he explains. “There are a lot of veterans in my family, going all the way back to the Battle of King’s Mountain [in 1780], but the poem kept nagging at me.”
To Bowen, the poem is “a grave misrepresentation of American history. Our founders had deep misgivings about the influence of the military and of standing armies. We have a long tradition of the military being under civilian control. The rule of law is what ensures our freedoms. This flips that on its head.”
I would call "Bullshit!" on the allegation that he was considering buying a brick, I'll let that one slide for now...it is merely pretext for giving him "gravitas" for the take down of the poem, which otherwise would not be possible given his anti-war views. His second statement is what I wish to call attention to, where he engages in building himself (calling upon those of his ancestors who were veterans) up so that he might takedown the poem. Then he says, "but," remeber, when someone says "blah blah but, blah blah" know that the speaker doesn't really believe all that went before, it is merely a device to get to what they really want to say. In his case, the poem kept nagging at him.
I'll just bet it did. When I hear that poem, I am thankful for the service of our brave boys and girls, upon whose broad and tall shoulders I stand.
Wally goes on to bring in a complete misdirection away from giving tribute to veterans, and bringing up boogie men to with which to frighten people.
Nowhere in the poem are standing armies mentioned, and he goes on to tell a bald-faced lie...that the rule of law ensures our freedoms, to which I say:
"Oh, really? I never read about the lawyers who sued King George for our Freedom. And I don't recall the lawyers who served a summons to appear in court over secession from the Union. I'm sure the Kaiser would have recalled his troops back to Germany, as would have Hitler, Tojo, and Saddam Hussein.
Force of arms were required in everyone of those cases, and civilians were transformed into soldiers to get the job done, whereupon the survivors became veterans when they returned to civilian life."
Wally Bowen cannot see that through his socialist-stained glasses that hold meritorious achievement in disdain.
Let me help you understand just who Wally Bowen is, in case you aren't familiar with him:
Profile on Media Literacy
An appearance on Democracy Now!
One of his websites, IndyLink, which is full of progressive links.
Another profile, on the Media Giraffe Project
Just be aware of who Wally Bowen is before you take him to be a person wishing to honor veterans on their merits. I'm sure he would prefer a statute honoring "workers" instead of "veterans."
It is time more people began to stand up to this kind of nonsense from the left, and time that the regular people took Asheville back from these cretins!
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