Dear Mr. Anonymous Poster Guy...

Author: 
Prioleau Alexander
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I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but there are some very, very angry people on the Web. The angriest people are, of course, the Occupy types... fuming about everything except the fact that they chose Peruvian Women's Studies as their college major. The fury with which they spew their venom is awesome—rivaled only by that of a soccer mom whose snowflake didn't get enough playing time. You name it—politics, capitalism, religion, evolution, their stupid college degree, George Bush—everything conservative is worthy of using ALL CAPS.

 

I find their passionate loathing of all things Constitutional to be pretty funny most of the time, and sometimes worthy of a belly laugh. However, one thing I cannot abide is the disparaging remarks I read so often about our men in uniform. Just as Mr. Anonymous-Poster-Guy believes Obama embodies all that is good, he thinks our Warriors embody all that is bad.

 

They do this only because of the anonymity offered by their keyboard. It's easy to tell a blogger—perhaps a former Navy SEAL— to "die in a fire," when the typist is identified only by his "Net Name"... usually something creative like Bush_lied_people_died42. Ironically I, at least, respect their smelly, hippie parents who had the guts to throw rocks at public demonstrations, and take a riot police beat-down they earned. I mean, at least they did something.

 

"Yeah?" those posters are thinking as they read this, "Oh, yeah? You so tough? Why don't you and I just meet in an alley and—hey, is that the new version of Angry Birds?"

 

To all the anonymous posters out there who think our fighting men are "cretins," or "George Bush drones" or "got what they deserved because they signed up for it," I'd like to place you in a hypothetical situation. Ready? Here goes:

 

You find yourself sitting in a bar next to an Afghanistan War veteran, and you hear him talking to the bartender about the media’s coverage of the war, and how bad it sucked hearing Democrat Congressmen proclaiming the war to be lost, unjust, illegal, and pointless. You hear him speak of the men in his unit who suffered and died. You hear him say he'd go back just to kill some more ragheads. You hear him refer to the Afghan men as "cavemen with AK-47s." What do you do?

 

He has said things that are unkind. Unfeeling. Aggressive. Antagonistic. Critical of your heroes in Congress. Perhaps even... (shudder)... racist. What now?

 

You want to speak up, but—oops, you are no longer oh-so-bravely poised behind your computer screen, able to comment anonymously. It’s just you, and him.

 

So what do you do? Do you speak up, and tell him your opinions?

 

Of course you don’t. He stands for something, and is willing to put pain, mutilation, and his life on the line to defend his beliefs. You stand for nothing but your own “feelings,” and are willing to put nothing on the line. Sure, perhaps you will go home and post on your blog about what you “felt like saying,” but you won’t actually say anything.

 

Want to know why?

 

Because physical violence is scary. And a weak man is always afraid of a hard man.

 

The same holds true for nations. And we know these Islamic fundamentalists are, if nothing else, hard men backed by hard governments. They say what they mean, and mean what they say. Is there anything ambiguous about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comment they will use their nukes to "wipe Israel off the map?" Were they just kidding when they cut off Daniel Pearl's head? Maybe they were courteous when they gang raped and sodomized Jessica Lynch?

 

You, Mr Anonymous-Poster-Person, need to get your brain fixed and understand that you need hard men to protect you because you cannot.

 

Think not? Then fly to the Middle East and offer humanitarian service to the Taliban. Explain that you oppose violence. Reason with them. Dialogue with them. Tell them you understand that Islam is a religion of peace, and that our fighting men are little more than robotic morons.

 

I look forward to reading your posts when you get back.