<p>momof1 - jym, marite, etc. are correct. I applaud your son’s decisions and accomplishments, and wish him safe and well in his chosen path. I’m pretty sure most everyone in this country does. I rarely if ever hear/see anyone criticizing the military. I’m not sure why you seem to think that criticizing the military is “inevitable”. Conflating the war with the soldiers is so Vietnam era - but that was 35 years ago.</p>
<p>Take a look at some of the anti war people in politics today, and you might be surprised how pro-military many are. The guy who is behind the DailyKos, which is about as liberal as you can get, enlisted and served in the army for 3 years. Senator Webb certainly is pro military, and has a son in the service now. </p>
<p>On the other hand, many - certainly not most - of the pro-war people never served because, in the words of VP Cheney, they had “other priorities”.</p>
<p>On this forum, it is dangerous to make too many generalizations. I’m generally a liberal democrat, but I am irrevocably opposed to abortion. There are others who are strict parents with strong family values, who are as more liberal than I am in their political views. There are a few who are quite conservative, yet are looking at Obama with an open mind. </p>
<p>Again, congratulations to you and your son. Hope next week goes well, and you get good weather for all the celebrations.</p>
<p>In defense of momof1’s generalization, I have read numerous postings that describe someone’s kid’s decision to join the military or ROTC or a service academy as, in essence, a horrifying fate worse than death. So yes, it has happened.</p>
<p>Bay-
Could you perhaps find a few of those numerous posts where cc parents have equated someone’s decision to join the military with a horrifying fate worse than death?</p>
<p>But I suspect that the reaction is due to the risk of death, not due to moral repugnance for the choice as such. We admire heroes precisely for taking the risks.
In a time of war, it is definitely important to consider the real risk of death. I was flabbergasted by the reaction of some in the military at the beginning of the war who were aghast at the idea of being deployed. They had been attracted by the services’ pitch about furthering their education, learning skills, etc… and had not given serious thought that they might actually see combat.
It is entirely appropriate to urge caution; it does not mean attacking or despising the military. On the contrary, such caution can go hand in hand with great admiration for the men and women in the military.</p>
<p>I find it interesting tht this thread was started with an overgeneralization
claiming that CC in general was replete with liberals. I wonder, if it were not for the second generalization posted by momof1, about people disliking the military and those who choose to serve, that has redirected the conversation here, what would we be talking about? While I try to steer clear of most of the political threads, I seem to remember a fair number of discussions about the republican candidates, about gun control and other political hot potatoes that indicate that there are a fair number of posters on both sides of the political spectrum. </p>
<p>Maybe this thread has reiterated that we shouldn’t overgeneralize, regardless of the topic at hand.</p>
<p>Believe me, if I could, I would be happy to do so, but I have no idea how to go about finding them. I’ve been on CC for almost 1 1/2 years now (I can’t believe its been this long), so I’ve read a fair amount of postings. I wasn’t trying to stir up trouble, just honestly reporting what I recall reading. I remember the gist of them because I also remember feeling very bad for the mothers whose sons were being judged/criticized/condemned in that way. Perhaps they did not mean to convey such a negative message, but it did come across as attacking military life, at least to me.</p>
<p>Bay,
To do a search,select the “search” option, and then you can type in key words to look for, and even select the thread you want searched. Perhaps you intended to say that some posts may have sounded negative towards those who select military life. I think marite spoke eloquently to that. But to say there are
without being able to provide one example also lacks credibility.
I for one, support, even admire, those who chose to enter the military. But I am glad that choice wasn’t made my my children. Selfish? Maybe. But I don’t want my kids or my h to have to make the “ultimate sactifice” for our country. I fully support those who are willing to do so. Just don’t want to be that close to it, thank you.</p>
<p>You said you didnt know how to do it. I took you at your word. You said you had no idea how to find them, and said “believe me, if I could, I would”. I was genuinely trying to be helpful. Chill. However, now, by asking “do you really think I meant this literally” you seem to indicate that you do in fact know how to search. So, if you really do know how to find them, are you just being dishonest when you said you couldn’t (because if you could, you would)? I am confused.</p>
<p>Bay-- the search option allows you to search for any post-- just by trying a few key words that you think might be in the post. Or you could search for threads you think they might be in.</p>
<p>Conservatives want to conserve, ie maintain, the status quo whereas liberals want to change the wrongs they perceive. It makes sense that the dissatisfied will be more obvious on a forum. Also interesting how what once was liberal is often considered conservative years later as societal norms change. All that without a sociology degree- am I allowed? It seems healthy for colleges to tend towards change, thus liberalism.</p>
<p>Any club that would accept you you wouldnt want to be a member of, lookingparent (paraphrasing the Marx brothers). Forthrightness is usually a good start.</p>
<p>BTW, from the “help” section, here is how to retrive your forgotten password
<p>Sorry, but I do not have the patience to spend what could take hours finding old posts. It is fine with me if you prefer not to believe what I write here. I have no special agenda that requires me to prove this point. I remember what I remember and that is all. Take it or leave it, I do not mind either way.</p>
<p>Bay-
You misunderstand-
You made a rather broad overgeneralization (which was the very issue being discussed)and I asked if you could cite an example. You then said you didn’t know how to go about finding them, so I tried, genuinely being helpful, to tell you how to do a search. I think this molehill is rapidly becoming a mountain. Sheesh. Relax.</p>
<p>Kindness and compassion?? Huh??? Lets start with honesty. And lets get back to the OP’s question and not hijack the thread. (BTW, I thought I was being very kind-- provided the procedure to find your lost password to your original SN) ;)</p>
<p>Actually, it only takes a few seconds to search. The easiest way is to use Google, and limit the domain of the search using the “site:” qualifier to College Confidential, either anywhere on this site or particular forums. Then you can put quotation marks around a phrase to see what hits you get.</p>
<p>The phrase “fate worse than death”, for example, doesn’t appear in any posts that also contain the word “military” (or the names of any branch of the service) except for Bay’s post above.</p>
<p>calreader I have done that trick many times.
some sites are hard to negotiate & I am always amused when google can find what I want faster than clicking on interior links!</p>