Freedom of Speech

I just royally pissed off an Iraq War vet. Do I get kicked out of the country for that? New Zealand, here I come!

I don't know enough about politics or war or life to have any major opinions about...anything? Well, that's not fair. I can have opinions about movies and books and men and food and animal rights. But, as far as those major, "zomg healthcare!" "wtf war?!" kinds of issues...nah, I'm not really ready to pick a side. That being said, I would say I lean toward pacifism. I know that's easy to say, and totally expected coming from lala hippie Joni Mitchell vegan hippie skirt Aronson, but I have trouble understanding why anyone needs to die for--anything! I don't believe in the death penalty, I would never get an abortion, and instead of killing a spider, I just lock it in the bathroom and try to hold my pee until I'm somewhere else. I've never been on a battlefield (except for love's battlefield....WE ARE STRONG!). However, in my gentle, peaceful, womanly core, I don't see any reason for anyone to die for oil? religion? territory? whatever the fuck we're fighting for? I believe in having a military for defensive purposes and for...nazi-like situations (so sue me, I'm a Jew). I don't really get what we're doing right now. So there. There's my stance on things. A non-stance. A "hey-you-guys-just-be-nice" stance.

I believe that anyone can be a hero in the right circumstance, but I do not believe all soldiers are heroes. I do not believe in violence. I don't necessarily "support our troops." I roll my eyes when people do the whole soldier-worship routine. I wish I was alive during Woodstock. I digress. Granted, there are some situations when anyone can save lives and be a hero, and I think soldiers have more opportunities to express martyrdom than others.

So here's the sitch (and my stance really has nothing to do with it). There's a fb group/non-profit org called Soldiers Are Not Heroes. It's a group of pacifists who are sick of soldier worship and violence. I can dig it. Then there's another group called "REMOVE THE GROUP SOLDIERS ARE NOT HEROES FROM FACEBOOK IT NEEDS TO BE REMOVED" (the all-caps are very important here). My war vet friend joined this group, I made a comment about freedom of speech, and then we engaged in a war of our own. It doesn't matter how I feel about war and soldiers and puppies and rainbows and flowers in my hair. What matters is that facebook is a public forum where anyone should be able to say anything they like. I hate it when I see a group that degrades animals, or "I love bacon" groups, or "Animals Taste Good" groups, or anything animal-related that I find douche-y. That doesn't mean I think these groups should be removed. 1st Amendment, man. Freeeeeedom. Shouldn't soldiers be all about that? Freeeeeedom? Irony? Maybe? Does anyone really know what qualifies as ironic?

In conclusion: Stop fighting, please. Not all soldiers are heroes, please. Some people are heroes, please. Some non-soldiers are heroes. Some people suck. War sucks. Death sucks. Dead children suck. Hot, sandy places suck. Sometimes America sucks. Freedom of speech = Awesome. My favorite part about America, actually!