aero I don't know what military men and women you are talking to, my family and friends who are in the military do NOT feel they are being taken care of properly.   They feel they are being screwed. Most are going back to Iraq for the third and Fourth time. You should know that the last thing I would do is dishonor our military seeing as how I have been in the military myself and the military is still a very big part of my life today.  If you think we are treating the men and women who volunteered to protect our country fairly, perhaps it is you that is dishonoring them.  Oil, a huge ego, and a fear of losing a war that was not necessary in the first place is not only mutilating our soldiers and putting great strain on their families, it's also killing them.  Sure a lot of us wanted to go to Iraq and the Bush administration hurriedly edged us on to go to war.  We trusted our leaders, now we know that they screwed us and are still screwing us.   I have seen several military men and women post on this blog, only one of them thought they were being treated well.   The one that flies the confederate flag... I can't remember his name.   He's the only one who thinks soldiers are being treated properly...do you know of anyone else????  

Are there any military men or women reading this post that would like to speak up????

They have been interviewing soldiers on some of the news programs.  Most think they are being "screwed."  Their training has been cut, protective gear is defective or non-existent, they can't tell who is the good guy vs the bad guy in Iraq, their tours are being extended and they are sent back before their down time is complete.  Military families are bearing the burden and DC is talking, talking, talking.  They usually feel really torn because they want to be "loyal" Americans.  But you can really get an earful from the men and women - particularly in the high ranks - verbally going ballistic on the prez and his war mongers. 

All fallen service men are heroes.  Those who protest at funerals are the worst right wing religious wackos living.  I kinda wish their "end of times" would get here already and they'll all disappear.  Then the rest of us can live without their rhetoric which apparently, makes them feel good.  They kind of have the logic, "I have to kill you to save you."  They are truly dishonorable people.

I'm a big ACLU person???   I didn't even know who they were until you sent me a link to a anti-ACLU website.   I do know you hate the ACLU, that's pretty much all I know about them.  I don't agree with any organization 100% and I probably won't agree with them all the time either.  I don't know who they support and who they don't support aero, I don't know much about them, I will have to do more research before I can comment on their activities.  The only news I watch is Headline News and cspan channels (Live Senate and Representative hearings) thus I don't know much about CNN or MSNBC either.   I don't think simply because military recruiting is reaching it's goal by giving added bonuses and working overtime to recruit people into the military means soldiers are being treated fairly.  My family and friends have reenlisted as well and without a bonus, they will do their job and they will serve America as I have.   What does a little above normal reenlistments  have to do with being treated well?  We don't stop serving our country simply because the Bush administration is incompetent, we love America.    I think you should stay away from extreme right News like Fox and try medias that are more centered it will help you get a better and more honest perspective of what is really going on in the world.   We may not be able to stop the war in Iraq, we will have some of our soldiers over there for years and years and years to clean up the mess we made, but at least we are making Bush take time to THINK before he reacts when it comes to this war.   This is very important, and our soldiers deserve more than dash decisions when it comes to their lives.  The course of this war is finally being THOUGHT about after years of "Duh, I don't knows".    You said I dishonor our military men and women by saying we have screwed them?  I think most would disagree with you.  I think most wish they had a strong leader to guide them, and most wish the top of their chain of command were not Bush.     

If there are any military people here on this blog please tell me what you think.

What you seem to forget aero is that I am not anti-war. I am pro military, America needs stong women and men to protect us.  What we don't need is incompetent leaders guiding them.  I'm sure most Americans agree with me.

aero we both care about our troops.  I simply responded to your comment saying that I dishonored our soldiers by saying they were NOT being treated well by the Bush administration. Fox has dropped in ratings and continues to do so, have you checked the latest ratings? Fox News's total audience fell 24 percent in the past year, to 1.3 million viewers from 1.7 million, and its key primetime audience, viewers ages 25-54, was down 7 percent in October on a year-to-year basis, to an average 363,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research data.

As for ACLU as I said I don't know enough about them to comment.  IF they are protecting protesters that are protesting at the funerals of our military men and women... they are just wrong.  I will check out the offical website of the ACLU to see if they are really doing this when I have time.  Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing but I think we should also respect the dead especially if we ourselves killed them by sending them to a unnecessary war. 

aero you and I agree that the military is worth much respect and admiration.  What we disagree on is Bush's treatment of our military men and women....and that's ok too.  

As a US Army Soldier who served under both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush's administrations, I can tell you that we (US Troops) are much better off now than when Goerge W. Bush first took office.  There are always whiners and the media loves to interview them.  Keep in mind that this is a 100% VOLUNTEER military force. While I think there is always room for improvement, we have come a long way from the Clinton era.   

14 years of service and counting!