Too Much To Dream

You know, it almost sounds like Sgt. Stryker is stationed in enemy territory, doesn't it?

This report of his makes me wonder how it is that a state like California can be in the same country as a state like Texas.

Perhaps we should declare war on California and bring it back into the Union by force.

That SUV thing would be illegal, but you'd only get 20 years if you were in the throes of "sudden passion." (cf, that dentist woman in Houston)

Seriously, that sounds like the bunch of assholes from the 60s and 70s who had the goddamned gall to spit on returning Vietnam veterans. The good news is that the assholes will probably hate theirselves later, and hopefully go hang theirselves in the basement over their pissant actions. In the meantime, I hope they get their jaw broken by the next Marine or GI or A1C or whatever the Navy calls their new guys. Fuck them with a splintery 2×4.

Let me make clear that Northern California is a foreign country. Here in SoCal we don't trust 'em. I don't think anything like that would have happened in San Diego, but we're used to having a lot of military people around, and there ain't a lot of fuzzy-headed tree-huggers here. (Not a lot of trees, either.)

That was pretty much what I was thinking, Steven. Northern California has been a lodestone drawing weird, disaffected people for a long time. I don't think there are many other places in this country where such an incident would have occurred.

Southern Californians should start an initiative to break off and form their own state.

By the way, the human shields thing was funny.

This isn't.

Oh, I don't know. I was stationed in Sacramento for 4 1/2 years, and up in that neck of the woods the military was well-liked.

Northern California is actually, overall, the sanest part of the state. It's the BAY AREA that has the highest concentration of kooks in the US. Outside of Washington, D.C., of course.

I had to pass through the Dallas Airport recently - saw a young woman soldier in uniform. And I remember - you used to see a lot more young folk in uniform travelling. Now, they're encouraged not to.

She was headed the opposite direction I was - but I said quietly "Soldier?" She stopped and turned towards me. "Thank you", I said, and smiled.

Her face lit, and we both went on our way.

J.

(Uh, encouraged not to wear their uniform while travelling, that is.)

Repeat after me. Mister Preview Button Is Your Friend...

My son (Navy) has always been instructed to not wear his uniform while traveling....something about not wanting their sailors to be obvious targets for terrorists.

I never dreamed that included our own citizens.

For Roscoe, James, Steven, BarCode, Dean:

NO!

I'm in the same goddamn county. It's the shitheads in the Berkeley area, not NorCal. There just happen to be a whole goddamn lot of them. You want to split the state, split it left to right because I see little reason not to throw LA (proper) and SF in the same f***ing loony bin.

And for the record, this area is NOT northern California, it is central. Northern California (where much of my family lives) wants nothing to do with the bastards, strongly supports the military, and voted for Bush (and in deference to Emily, I am happy to consider Humboldt NOT part of NorCal).

Maybe we should do an Ariel Sharon thing: build a steel-reinforced concrete all around LA, SF, and Berkely so that they can't contaminate the rest of the state. You know, with army personnel patrolling it.

"I am so pissed off right now I can't even swear."

Now that's scary!

And Darth is right, once you get far enough inland that the bong fumes from Berkeley can't impose an unwanted buzz, the folks like their nation's defenders just fine.

I'm recruiting some chainsaw-wielding folks to cut San Francisco loose. Maybe after that we should have a crack at Berzerkley.

Darth is right on that point, but not on saying DC's worse than the Bay Area. OK, so the District did elect Marion Barry, but still...you're WAY more likely to find Republicans in DC (from all over the country), and I can't imagine anyone treating the military like that there.

Oh, and once again, Kevin, I'm afraid I think California is just going to have to keep them; the thought of such places with US Senators all their own is simply too horrible to contemplate.

Who said anything about making them states? I just said cut 'em loose. It won't be our fault if they don't float.

D.C. wasn't bad. I'd classify it as "normal." You always have your background radiation of bitter people mad at the world, but I would say this area is by far the worst I've seen in a place where we're not engaged in hostilities.

I hope that those same assholes try to jump some of my Marines, because they won't let that crap go. Regardless of how you feel about this subject or anything else there is no reason to display that kind of disrespect to our nation's honorable fighting force.

I cannot understand what has happened to this country. How can I explain this to my kids. This war is not about oil. I find it harder to not believe that people in this country could actually hate teh Republican party and President Bush more than they do Saddum Hussein! I just hope that our boys and girls over there make it home safe and that the idiot all these left wing nuts are supporting does not gas the good guys. Where the hell is John Wayne when you need him?