Originally Posted by Mike Brewer

Thanks for posting this. It's something everyone should read. However, I wanted to throw out something for you to consider.

You mentioned our "large and organized" military. Consider for a moment that we have about 1,000,000 men and women in uniform serving on active duty. We have, as a nation, over 300,000,000 citizens. In other words, our "large" military is made up of roughly 1/3 of 1 percent (0.33% for you math geeks out there) of our nation. To put it another way, each man or woman in uniform has the burden of protecting roughly 300 Americans all by themselves. That ratio is staggering. Imagine for a second that you were put into a position where 300 people literally depended on every action you take for their lives and for their freedoms. Now, statistically, about 200 of those 300 people are mad at you for doing what you're doing to keep them safe. They protest against you whenever they can, and they smear your bosses at every turn. When's the last time you sat in a room with even 30 people and got on the wrong side of 20 of them? Now imagine how those soldiers must feel. 300 people sitting comfortably at home, literally doing nothing - NOTHING - to defend their own freedoms. It's all on their head, and that's true for every single person brave enough to put on a uniform.

Heavy load to be carried by roughly a third of a single percent of our citizens.

I think maybe all of them deserves our undying respect, loyalty, and gratitude, no matter how we feel about the policies they're working under...

Originally Posted by Mike Brewer

Also, something to consider. To anyone who's not pleased with the current crop of politicians, consider that many if not most of them served in the military. Consider also that historically, the politicians who rise highest in this country have all had military backgrounds (with a few exceptions, of course). That may bring some comfort in that if the same trend holds, we will not have to deal with many of these incompetents' children trying to run things. They'll be replaced by veterans with something of themselves invested in the country they hope to govern.