Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Thoughts about life, crap, training, and stuff - The Lone Survivor edition

I saw "Lone Survivor" this weekend.  I thought it was phenomenal.  The thing I came away with was the awe in which those guys loved and protected each other, and the fact that they were able to withstand so much physical punishment, and still have the will to fight, and go on.

You read or hear about this all the time in regards to high speed guys.  That they train and train and train in order to develop those capabilities, however I think you have to either read a book describing what these guys go through or see a film that accurately portrays it.



Then of course, I see that the liberal media is already disparaging the film, calling it pro-war propaganda and that some ass face at CNN (Jake Tapper) did an interview with Marcus Luttrell where he basically insults Marcus, and says that his brothers died for nothing.  Essentially, that is what he said.

It's hard for me to write with enough venom to describe how I feel about sackless pacifist cowards like Tapper.  It's hard for me to write with enough disdain in regards to people who say things like "the war in Afghanistan has nothing to do with our freedom".  You can't educate people who don't want to learn, and you can't prove to people who believe that there are terrorists and evil men out there that want nothing more than to see as many American's dead every day as possible.  I'm not talking Marines, or SEALS, or Army infantry, either.  I'm talking you and me, and your neighbors and kids.  Whether you agree with that doesn't matter.  It's not political.  Those are facts.  Hard truths that whether you accept them or not, exist.

More so, I can't stand when people write or vomit tripe like "I do support the troops, that's why I don't want any more to die because of some political bullshit."  I'm not sure of any war or military op that isn't laden with "political bullshit".  How most people feel about that, I've found, is where their partisanship lies.  If you're a democrat or a bat shit crazy liberal, and Obama decides he needs drone strikes or to give a go ahead for an assassination, then nothing is said.  When Bush was in office however, it was an uproar everyday from the liberals over the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

My issue is this.  The men and women who are over there, signed up for this, have trained for this, and believe in the cause and the mission.  Yes, there will be some that do not.  Indeed, there will be those that signed up for the G.I. bill or because there weren't any better jobs back home and they are bitter because they didn't know the military would be involved in conflict.

That's sarcasm in case you didn't catch it.

But for the most part, the men of high speed units signed up for this.  It's what they trained for, and are prepared for.  They didn't make their decision based on who was in office or political partisanship.  They did so, I believe, out of a desire to be part of something honorable.  A code that they wanted to be a part of, and live.  Actually LIVE that code.  Something few men can say they walked through life and accomplished. They went through training that separates the weak from the strong, and the strong from the elite.

Yet they still have to listen to garbage from people like this Jake Tapper.  That their sacrifice was "senseless".
For nothing.

How many people do you know, that will put themselves in harms way and battle until they have taken their very last breath, and never whine about it, in order to defend something they believe in?

How many people do you know, that believe in something so strongly, that they would suffer tremendously for it, and die for it?  How many people do you think you know like that?  Very few.  Probably none.

People love to believe very highly of themselves and their perceived sacrifices about life and love.  But the fact is, most people do not posses the will, the courage, or a deep enough love and belief in something to suffer and die for it.  There is nothing in life that they are so passionate about that they would put themselves in harms way to protect it, or to defend it.  People like Jake Tapper.  The cowards who sit on the internet in the safe confines of their home or work and take shots at people like Marcus Luttrell, or any other honorable soldier that puts his life on the line.

Your love or hate for the government has nothing to do with what these men do, and the kinds of threats they expose themselves to.

"But they wouldn't have to if not for (insert president you hate here) and political bullshit."

In case you weren't paying attention, I covered that.

Anyone who has a passion and belief for something so great, and so overwhelming, that they are willing to fight and die for it, did not "die for nothing".  They died for the what they believed in most.  Whether or not you agree with them, their cause, their passion, their code, is irrelevant.  We should all be so lucky as to have something we love so much we'd be willing to sacrifice everything for it.

That is living with a purpose.  And purposeful living is a rare thing these days indeed.





15 comments:

  1. Agree 100%.....Id like to punch Tapper in face for speaking about shit he knows nothing about. We are free because of the sacrifices of brave men/women who fight for our country daily. Everyone should be grateful and show respect, no matter what your political views.

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  2. Hey Paul why do you use only egg protein powder? Is it because of its leucine content? I'm thinking of trying one out but wanted your opinion on it

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    1. I use whey now again. I gave up egg because it started to eventually give me some unreal butt trumpets.

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  3. I agree but you lost me with all your political stereotypes about Democrats and liberals..be part of the solution not more of the problem with regards to partisan name mudslinging...Many liberals admire and support our troops just as well as many right wingers do not or claim to....and for the record and these are facts many of our troops and veterans who lived and breathed Iraq and afghanistan are speaking out against it..it doesn`t mean they feel lives lost are senseless but they know from 1st hand experience that fighting in afghanistan is a lost cause...it doesnt mean those who lost their lives did so for senseless reasons but they have earned the right to state those opinions...

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    1. I wasn't here to "win" anyone with this. It was my thoughts about it.

      And let's be real, liberals do NOT support the troops. Supporting the troops is not clamoring for them to come home while damning an administration.

      Lastly, there are not a "many" troops speaking out against the war. No. There's not. There are far MORE that believe in the cause, and you should go up and say to them that their efforts were "senseless". Bullshit. That's tripe. And none of the soldiers I know agree with you, and the majority do not.

      And lastly, the guy that said it seemed senseless was not a soldier. He was a liberal asshat with no spine and no nuts. Just like all liberals I know.

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  4. I, myself, am against the war. Does my personal opinion, right or not, make what they do worthless or meaningless? Certainly not, and I would never disparage a soldier. I support the troops and their right to participate in the cause they believe in.

    However, I think what's lost in the general pro-war discussion is that, aside from there being real terrorists who want to see America brought low, there are also very many regular people in Afghanistan who have nothing to do with them whose lives are ruined by the war. The fact is, there are far more of them than there are Americans whose lives have been ruined.

    I'm sure as hell not a liberal, and I think Obama's administration is trash. As for Tapper, I think he's a worthless asshole. If I were liberal, it wouldn't change my perspective on the war, and it wouldn't (assuming it's valid in the first place) make my criticism of it any less valid.

    I always think about the town of Fallujah from the occupation of Iraq.

    http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116199/fallujah-veteran-asks-if-it-was-worth-it

    I hate that a soldier should need to ask himself if it was "worth it," but since it has been reported repeatedly as essentially uninhabitable since occupation, and since Iraq is reported as akin to hell on earth, it is a question that must be asked by someone. In terms of world journalism, the decimation of Fallujah and the conditions in Iraq right now are laid squarely at our feet. Is that fair? Probably not, but to some debatable extent we played a role in creating it.

    If we want to ensure our own livelihood, we have to do it at someone's expense. This is far from senseless, but forgive me if I do not clamor for it to happen.

    Of course, this is only what I think.

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  5. Ron Paul served in the military, is antiwar, and gets more military campaign contributions than other candidates combined. So how is antiwar = antitroops? RP is the man.

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    1. I never said you had to be pro war to be "pro troops". Nice leap of logic there. However you can be anti war but still understand the troops have a job to do and support their efforts without screaming "bring them home!" all the god damn time can't you?

      Yes, indeed.

      Seriously Ahad.

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  6. I hate the attitude you summarized: "I do support the troops, that's why I don't want any more to die because of some political bullshit." so much. What support means to liberals is to take care of in a maternalistic fashion; the kind of "support" they give to welfare mothers, minorities who can't cut it in the job market, undocumented immigrants etc. They learned very quickly that being rude to veterans doesn't go over well with Americans so instead of spitting on them they try to pity them, kill their credibility with kindness. I don't think it's an accident that PTSD gets emphasized so much in the media. They're sincere in their desire to help veterans with PTSD, but they also want people to think of veterans as damaged dysfunctional objects of pity rather than tempered warriors whose oppinions are more valuable than those of media pundits.

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  7. Do a little research and you will find that there are indeed many veterans who do feel being over in the Middle East a lost cause....Typical right wing conservatard rhetoric....

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    1. I'm a libertarian. Doh.

      And when you say "many" it's still a very small number in comparison to how many believe in the cause. You hanging your hat on 1% of the troops is disingenuous. But that's what I expect from liberals.

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    2. Were you pulling for Gary Johnson this last election?

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  8. we cant support a "war" where the troops have killed more innocent civilias ( more than a million) than "terrorist"

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    1. It's always fun to make up figures isn't it?

      http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

      Just stop.

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