sorry, but no. the military did not give me the right to free speech. i was born with it as one of my natural rights. free speech is not a privilege that is to be granted or denied, it is something that should necessarily be upheld by principle.camo said:The fact of the matter is... the only reason you have the RIGHT to bad mouth the government and get away with it is because the military, thats right the military, gives you that right.
and being critical of certain military or government policies is not the same thing as saying all soldiers are idiots or that all aspects of government are wrong. your inability to make that distinction only makes yourself look more ignorant. think about why the colonies broke from the british empire. it was exactly because they were unhappy with the government being imposed on them. that is why we live in a representative democracy so that when people see corruption in government they can attempt to effect reforms.
blindly obeying orders is not necessarily the same thing as fighting for freedom or fighting for democracy. by your logic nazi soldiers in WWII were only being patriotic by upholding military orders and killing enemies of the state. but the government is not infalliable. government is made up of people and people can make mistakes or be corrupt. criticizing government policies which you see as corrupt is not unpatriotic. in fact it's more unpatriotic to sit idly by as corrupt government officials demonstrate unethical conduct. we live in a democratic society that supposedly values human rights, we should have higher expectations of our government officials.
and sorry, you may think that soldiers are the only ones improving the state by actively using violent coercion, but you fail to explain how the violence described by sgt changes the country for the better. the military may be able to defend the nation against physical external attacks, but it does not improve the nation's internal infrastructure. the military did not decrease racial tension. the military does not safe guard against government corruption. the military does not solve societal inequities. the military does not progressively improve our society. it is only useful for defending it against outside attackers. get over yourself. you are not saving us "pansies" from anyone. you do not give me my natural rights. you have demonstrated the exact opposite mindset of the revolutionaries who fought for the freedom of this nation. your sentiments directly undermine the attitude expressed in our constitution. and being unable to think critically for yourself does not make you more american, it just makes you a tool.