ARGH!!!!!!!!! A rant from a military family member.

[Katherine Brengle]

Okay, I am pissed off. I got the Winter Newsletter from my husband's unit's Key Volunteers, and at the bottom left-hand corner of the front page, there was a box with the following message:

Red Fridays-----Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday...Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.

Maybe I am just crazy, but this struck me as highly political and inappropriate. I felt like I was being attacked, and by a group of people whose sole purpose right now is to support and keep up the morale of the families of this unit's Marines.

I sent off an angry email (well, I was angry, but I tried to keep it civil) but I needed to vent some more...

[dflprincess]

1. Hot damn

I didn't know about this and wore a red sweatshirt to work today. One of the other people in my area commented on how many people around us were wearing red. Now that I think about it, the other ones wearing red are all known Bushbots. The only comfort I take is that my sweatshirt will probably confuse them as most of them must have seen the "Enough is enough! Vote Democratic" bumpersticker on my car.

[Bjornsdotter]

2. Red on Fridays

...when I was in high school meant you were a "slut".

I see no difference to their supposed meaning.

Yes, it is frustrating! Did you receive a response to your email.

Cheers

[dflprincess]

8. Better to be thought a slut

than a Bushbot :evilgrin:

[Bjornsdotter]

10. Roflmao!

Very true!

[Katherine Brengle]

9. No response yet, no. But I did tell them that I found the comments

highly political and inappropriate, so they'll probably just ignore it and have a grand ole time talking about me after they read it...

Dear Key Volunteers:

I just wanted to let you guys know that I found the "Red Fridays" section of the front page of the newsletter extremely offensive.

I know it is your responsibility to keep everyone's morale up during this deployment, but not all of us are happy with this war. I found the wording very political and inappropriate.

"Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops..."

I'm not sure who you think doesn't support the troops, but I'd be willing to hazard a guess that me and my friends (people like Cindy Sheehan and members of Military Families Speak Out) fall into that category.

I don't think that it is your place to propogate this kind of attitude.

Katherine Brengle

[Bjornsdotter]

15. Short and Sweet

Good, their attention won't wander.

You are right, they won't answer....too bad.

Cheers

[neuvocat]

3. Support your local communist party???

Now what kind of message does that send to our troops?

:evilgrin:

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. I'll just assume it's Socialism day

[mcscajun]

5. So much easier to wear red, or slap on a yellow ribbon magnet

than actually DO something!
:grr:

I'm guessing the bozos who thought up this weren't around in the 50s and 60s, when Republicans swore by "Better Dead than Red." I think it's time we reminded them.
:rofl:

[tanyev]

6. Let's see...who else was it that liked to wear red?

[Obamarama]

7. Like wearing a red shirt is going to fucking support the troops....

Who are these fucking Einsteins who think some inanimate object or some hollow, meaningless expression supports our military men and women?

"I wear a red shirt, so therefore I support the troops." BULLSHIT.

If that's all they think it takes to support the troops, they don't have a patriotic bone in their body.

[renate]

26. thank you!

:applause:

These people are masters of the meaningless gesture.

[genie_weenie]

11. Yeah, because that's what helped me through my time

in Iraq and Afghanistan. The thought that my loved ones and other like-minded people spent time accessorising their wardrobes to include something red.

Everytime I see a yellow Support the Troops magnet on a car I want to vomit.

[kevinbgoode]

12. red is an entirely inappropriate color

Why would anyone wear a blood color to show solidarity with troops? It's ridiculous. . .if they had half a brain, they would call for yellow and just ask people to wear their little yellow ribbon buttons.

[LynnTheDem]

13. BAKE SALE for BODY ARMOR.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2099989

Sure bush & cabal "support the troops". GOING ON FOUR YEARS and our troops STILL don't have body armor.

With support like bush & Co, our troops don't need FOREIGN enemies...

[rzemanfl]

14. Wasn't last Friday "wear red for women's heart disease?" Or

something like that?

[orleans]

16. a bunch of sheep following the biggest fool on the hill

[Catrina]

17. Foil them. Make the 'support the troops on Friday ' color blue,

and claim that anyone who is not wearing blue is not a 'red-blooded American'.

They are unbelievable. Trying to force people to state their politics and using the troops to do so. It is unconsciencionable.

[PaganPreacher]

20. One "Blue Friday" coming up!

http://www.wgna.com/events/blue_friday.php



The Pagan Preacher
I don't turn the other cheek.

[PaganPreacher]

18. You DO know that RED is one of the USMC's colors, right?

Why would you feel "attacked" because a Marine Corps Key Volunteer Network (family support group) suggests Marine family members wear the Marine Corps' color on Fridays to show pride in their Marines who are deployed?



Nobody is attacking you. It's not political. Get a grip.




The Pagan Preacher
I don't turn the other cheek.

[Katherine Brengle]

22. It had absolutely nothing to do with the color red--I never said it did

that was emphasized in comments by others.

What I resented were the implications-- 1) that NOT doing this somehow means I do not support our troops (one of them being my husband), and 2) that people like me (i.e., people who are opposed to the war) are some kind of un-American minority.

I take offense to your telling me to "get a grip"--I said nothing that warranted that remark.

[PaganPreacher]

23. They implied nothing- you inferred it.

Do you understand the difference?

Let's look at what the article actually said, and we can talk about your inferences later:

Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops.

OK, the Key Volunteer Network assumed that the reader wants to recognize that Most Americans "support the troops". Do you want to recognize that premise? If the answer is "yes", then read on. If you don't want to, then the rest of the article doesn't apply to you (much like a request to say the Rosary for someone doesn't apply to a Pagan like me- although I don't find such requests offensive, just irrelevant).

"Support our troops" is a vague statement. Cindy Sheehan and Donald Rumsfeld can both say they "support the troops", and each is correct- since "support the troops" can mean anything they want it to mean, from "support the war" to "love our Marines and want them home safely as soon as possible, without experssing an opinion about the war" to "want the troops to leave an immoral war and return to American soil immediately".

Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home...

"Solidarity" is a liberal word. Conservatives don't use it. "Dignity and respect" are progressive qualities (in fact, a group of gay Catholics is called "Dignity"). "Until the troops all come home" sound a lot like something Rep. Murtha would say, and he represents anti-war Democrats well. You inferred a message that the authors did not write; in fact, the author may agree with anti-war Democrats, based on the choice of language. I can infer that as easily as you infer the opposite.

...sending a deafening message that every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.

Aside from the poorly written "sending a deafening message"- wearing bright colors will not "send a deafening message" (perhaps a blinding one) or cause deafness- this is an innocuous statement, because (again) "support our men and women afar" is so vague.

Nowhere in the article did the Key Volunteer Network demand that you support the war, or be happy that your Marine may come home in a box, or vote Republican, or kiss a picture of George W. Bush and swear fealty. In fact, they didn't demand anything from you, did they? NO. All they did was tell you about their idea, and said that you would be seeing it around. They didn't even ask you to take part. You inferred that part, too- didn't you?

Based on your words, I see that the Key Volunteer offended you by telling you that they plan to wear red on Fridays to show support for their Marines stationed overseas, and I offended you by responding to your admission in the original post that "Maybe I am just crazy" by telling you to "get a grip".

Well, maybe you are just crazy.

Or, maybe you are not crazy, but you are easily offended by small things.

Since I don't know you personally, I could not say for sure. But, I gave you the benefit of the doubt, and gave you sincere advice to help you get through your day. Life is too short, and there are too many big things that will bring you grief. No need to waste it on the small stuff.


The Pagan Preacher
I don't turn the other cheek.

[Skittles]

19. if I wear red it will represent the blood of our troops

Jaysus those people really are idiots

[Steve A Play]

21. Wear white clothes doused in blood

with the words,

SUPPORT THE IRAQ INVASION
WITH YOUR CHILDREN'S BLOOD!

Steven P. :evilgrin:

[stevietheman]

24. Perhaps we should wear "blue" on Fridays n/t

n/t

[tinfoilinfor2005]

29. I saw that suggestion mentioned in another thread.

I have a blue ribbon on my car that says "Bring Home Our Troops." Someone tore the top loop in half (not an easy thing to do) and then put it back on my car. Who would be so enraged that the suggestion is made to take our troops out of that killing field? These are scary scary people.

[raysr]

25. A new meaning to the "RED MENACE"!

[Laelth]

27. Red was chosen for a reason.

And it wasn't in honor of the USMC.

It's in honor of the Repuke party, which has been characterized by the color red since 2000 (i.e. the "red states"). I saw similar threads on DU last week calling for Blue Fridays.

We are a nation divided, and it's sad, but I'll be darned if I'm wearing Repuke Red.

-Laelth

[thinkingwoman]

28. I don't own red clothing

it looks horrible on me.

And besides, I'm thinking sending care packages is a much better way to support the troops. Do they honestly give a fuck what people back home are wearing?