I'd Like to Wish Nanute Happy Veteran's Day-If He'll Allow it

     I learned a few new things about my friend and long time reader, Nanute. One is he actually wrote a blog post-I've never known him to do that before. 

    http://www.boomantribune.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2014/11/11/121030/01

     Second I learned a lot more about him as a Vietnam vet. I believe he had told me he was a vet but he definitely revealed more personal details than I was aware of. 

     "I'm a vet, but don't thank me. What? No really don't thank me. I'm still here, mostly intact and still breathing. I remember the first time that I saw a dead veteran. Local boy named Mick Wick. Couldn't have been more than 19 maybe 20. He was laid out at the local funeral home. You could only see the innocent face and his torso in the casket. The rest of him was somewhere in a field or rice paddy in Viet Nam. My memory isn't what it once was. I think I was about 16 at the time. And what did I do when I turned 18? I joined the Air Force. Perhaps somewhat for selfish reasons, maybe as a sense of giving something back to my country. My dad, a Marine, was not happy with my choice. He'd seen it all before, and though he was as patriotic a vet as I ever knew, he also knew that what was going on at the time in Viet Nam, was not a good idea. He marched in all the Memorial Day Parades, was a member of the Marine Corp. League and buried in his Dress Blues. (Semper Fi, old man.)"

     http://www.boomantribune.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2014/11/11/121030/01

     A few thoughts come to mind. One, it's funny as I just watched the movie St. Vincent, staring Bill Murray who was also a Vietnam vet. His attitude would probably be rather like Nanute's. 

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dP5lJnJHXg

     Whether or not we should thank him-he says no, I'm not so sure-at least we know he's neither a chicken hawk-like most Republicans or just plan chicken like most Democrats. 

      http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2014/11/democrats-find-operation-chicken-falls.html

       Another post at the Boomantribune-not by Nanute-asked what you would do if you ran the Democrats? Man, I would love that job. My first act would be to pan the toothless Allison Grimes strategy: call it the 'cooties strategy' where you act as if the President has cooties. It didn't work for her remotely as she lost by 15 points or any of the other chickenshit Dems using it. 

       http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2014/11/10/113425/45

       I found Nanute's piece to be one of the highlights of my Veteran's Day today-not that I do much about it. I'm not a vet and don't really celebrate. Still I think it's important that we recognize the sacrifices-in this day and age to see anyone acting for anything other than their immediate personal self-gratification is rare to say the least. 

       Phil McConkey had a great spot on CNBC that I found very inspiring. He also talked about a group called Wall Street Warriors where lots of money is raised on Wall Street for our veterans. 

        http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000195745

        I know there are lots of alleged liberals who will just snort here-'we don't need any of Wall Street's dirty money!' I just don't understand this attitude. Why should anyone turn down needed money based on hating the giver? Anyway I don 't hate Wall Street, never have. 

        My lack of hatred for Wall Street many make me seem an unusual liberal but I see it as quite the contrary. Along with free elections we need free markets. This is what any real liberal believes. Surely we've figured out by now that you don't have any kind of a Rule of Law with any teeth without private property and markets. Too many who are called liberals today are really socialists. A great place to see the kind of people I have in mind is over at Firedoglake where they have so much time on their hands these days, they fall all over the words of Gorbachev and grieve the fall of the Soviet Union. 

        http://news.firedoglake.com/2014/11/10/gorbachev-warns-of-us-triumphalism-and-new-cold-war-at-25th-anniversary-of-fall-of-soviet-union/

         Predictably he doesn't warn Putin of triumphalism as he makes war in the Ukraine. 

         As for Nanute, he says he doesn't get why people say 'Happy Veteran's Day.'

         "I'm not one for flag waving, singing of patriotic songs or mindlessly pledging allegiance to the Flag. That's not to say that I don't think we should be respectful and honor our veterans. I do think it's important and meaningful to remember the fallen, the shatter lives and memories of those that served. I think that quiet reflection and observance works better for me. And I respect those that show their gratitude in ways that I don't."

         "So, if you happen upon a stranger standing on the road asking to help a homeless vet, give him a hand up, not a hand out. Maybe he's not a homeless vet, so what? He's a fellow human being, down on his luck, maybe of his own making, but still one of us."

       "Happy Veterans Day? I never understood what's "happy" about it."

         I take his point in a way but you know I think people call it happy for a variety of reasons. It may well be that it's just those of us who have never served who would say that, but just the same I think it's said to for one thing just be polite, which is nothing to sneeze at. I mean in this day and age simple politeness is hard to come by and we should take it where we can get it. Holidays are an excuse for people to be more polite. The only ones who really believe this doesn't matter are anarchists-who of course want to see society disintegrate. So actually they do believe it matters and want to do away with its stabilizing force. 

         More generally, it's a way to wish veterans well of saying 'thank you.' Of course Nanute questions this as well but what's the alternative? We don't want to forget them Overall, I think it's just an attempt at goodwill towards veterans. You know I understand that if your memories of being in combat were not positive calling your status as a veteran may seem off but I guess it's like anyone who has suffered loss. If you say 'have a nice day' to someone who lost their son in war, basically your trying to wish them goodwill or saying 'God Bless You' or something like that. 

        In any case, if he and I differ here, he's the veteran so the tie goes to him. 

       P.S. I tried to leave a comment on Nanute's piece but couldn't figure out how-one person was able to I see. 

       P.S.S. I see that Murray's latest pick was not a favorite of the critics. 

       http://splitsider.com/2014/10/bill-murrays-st-vincent-is-getting-mixed-reviews-from-critics/

        Or the reviews are at least mixed. Some feel it was too sentimental and too trite. 

        "Why not just call it St. Bill and get it over with? The most lovable curmudgeon in modern movies gets a valedictory lap (and, you suspect, another Oscar campaign) in Theodore Melfi’s crowd-pleasing yet dangerously sentimental wacky-neighbor dramedy."

- Time Out

         Oh well, luckily I don't need movie critics to tell me what movies to like.