Ok, I was about to respond to Tom on the Current Events board after I wrote that we're not in a war and he quoted me and said "Well that about says it all". For some reason his lunatic rantings normally only amuse me but this time it struck me a bit deeper.

Here's my rant in return:

WAR REQUIRES SACRIFICE!!! If we're truly at war then why in the hell do we have tax cuts? Why are we screaming about the price of gasoline? Why aren't our sons and daughters and the sons and daughters of wealthy America being drafted to go over and fight the evil terrorists? The senior citizens of this country ought to be spitting on you greedy assholes right now. They got to see that the citizens of a nation truly at war rationed food, gasoline, rubber for tires. They volunteered in hospitals, bought war bonds. The women went to work in factories at low wages making munitions and airplanes. Every family, rich or poor had people they knew dying for the cause.

Here's our war. We lob missiles and smart bombs from miles away and gloat about our accuracy. Our military is made up mostly of men and women that would normally be working in blue collar jobs very few that entered the service to fight in wars but because the military was a source of employment for them, a source of stability. Very few of the front line soldiers are from influencial families. Our country sinks daily further into deficit and yet our neo-con brothers want their taxes cut so they can vacation in the Bahamas. We didn't enter the war in Iraq because we were attacked. No, we somehow felt we were this cut above the citizens of Iraq, that somehow we could change a society that was forming centuries before anyone ever knew there was an America.

You fearful, little whiners. Planes hit our buildings and killed some good people. I'd say what seemed to be this major setback for us came no where close to what most of the world has suffered since their countries came into being. We've been sitting here safe on this wonderful haven of resources for hundreds of years now and we finally get hit by some thugs and suddenly we're all in grave danger? I think not. Explain that fear to someone that grew up in the Sudan who daily worries about their arms and legs being hacked off. We have some wonderful history and people that have sacrificed tremendously to give us the freedoms and prosperity we enjoy. Let's not ruin that legacy by being the most spoiled country on the planet.