re: Manners

I don't know about your parents, but mine taught me to say "thank you" when someone does something to help me out, particularly if it would be to save my ungrateful butt from being tortured and murdered by the very people you think you are helping.

When our Armed Forces risks their lives in to rescue your sorry ass, it's just plain bad manners not to ackowledge it, regardless of how you feel about the foreign policy of their leaders.

Christianity is all about grace. And that grace should also be extended to those who have saved you, not to slap them back in the face by calling them "occupiers" and refusing to acknowledge the effort by merely saying you've been "released."

I'm reminded of a speech from Jack Nicholson in the film A FEW GOOD MEN:

And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post.

Remember, you could be sitting hogtied on a cold and dirty floor looking at your captors in hooded masks as they approach you with a bloody dull knife and a video camera.