You're dead right! I haven't logged in to Slashdot in so long I can't even remember how long it's been. Digg converted me :). But seriously that's exactly right. I loathe the argument that saying X destroys the morale of the troops. If whatever is said are lies, why would it destroy morale? Most people should still know better. If, on the other hand, it's true but still a little morale destroying.. well it's part of the job of being a soldier. If someone is a soldier and finds out something bad about our government and feels a little less like fighting, it's both a good thing and a bad thing. Of course, it depends on who you are.. to a senator or a president obviously it's a bad thing. But the thing that makes this country great.. even in it's bad times is that people are generally allowed to tell it like it is without repercussions. Many places in this world aren't like that, and it's sad. There are a lot of "systems" out there that simply can't exist without repression (North Korea comes to mind). But right now, we are at a crossroads.. our government can repress us more and more.. and it does to an extent but not too bad. Even crazy sounding conspiracy theories (Illuminati anyone?) can be posted, and yet people aren't executed for it. Sure, Guantanamo and other secret prisons are bad, and we should get rid of them, we have a biased press, and the executive branch has a bit too much power right now. But still, it could be much worse and yet we generally still have our basic freedoms. Sure cops are dicks, and we have seen a diminishing of our Constitution lately. And our Congress is generally bought and paid for (with a few exceptions). But I see it as a lack of good leadership, not necessarily completely rotten. (Without explicitly naming him) I hope people will vote for THE right candidate in the upcoming presidential election. It would be a good start. Seriously though, it looks like America will continue to go downhill and it saddens me, but maybe we've just had it coming. Noam Chomsky, love him or hate him, I think put it well when he said that being an empire on the outside and a democracy on the inside are opposed to each-other. But for the empire that the United States is, and the democracy that it is too, I must say that it is doing it surprisingly well. Still, I think that ultimately we as a country will need to cut down on the imperialism, and we will be the better for it when we do. But what do I know, I'm just a random slashdotter who hasn't even logged in for over a year. So yeah, back to what I was originally saying, our troops aren't babies and anyone who says "X will hurt the troops" are treating them like children - which they're not. They're soldiers, they're grown men (and women), and if they can't take a little meaningful criticism that isn't even personally directed towards them, maybe just maybe the army isn't the best place for them. "Sticks and stones ..."
