Stick A Fork In It, The Fad Is Over

The other week I traveled almost 700 miles from Hot-Lanta to Tejas. Along the way I noticed something, there were hardly any of the cheap-ass made-in-China magnetic ribbons saying "Support The Troops". I noticed three of them while crossing 3 states and then one vehicle doubled that as there were 3 ribbons on the tailgate. It was in the area around Ft. Puke, so that might explain it. On the way back going over the same roads, I only noticed 2!! A couple of years ago the ribbons were everywhere. You couldn't spit without hitting a SUV with several ribbons on it. Now if people are too lazy to transfer the magnetic ribbon from the old vehicle to the new one or too cheap to buy a new cheap-ass made-in-China ribbon to put on the new vehicle, then obviously the fad has run its course. (See the support magnet on the sidebar, which I stole from the blog of a Navy wife.)

Maybe now they are just praying for the troops. Below is how I feel about prayer.
I've always looked askance at "Sunshine Patriotism" like the slapping of a cheap ribbon on a SUV to show support for a war. Also those that wrap themselves in the flag or worse multiple flags. What always comes to mind is the old saying; "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel". And this morning while thinking about doing this post it hit me why I may feel that way. When I was serving during 'Nam, it was assholes saying things like "If we don't stop the filthy Commies in 'Nam, we'll be fighting them in Long Beach!!" Those so-called patriots were what got us into the war in 'Nam and kept us there way too long(over 50,000 dead too long)!! They were more than willing to send the young guys off to be killed, but didn't give a FUCK about them if and when they came back!! Some things never change.

Funny how this post worked out. Ever since I noticed how few ribbons were on cars now I have been thinking about doing this post. It was just going to be a tongue in cheek thing about a fad that had passed, and turned into a rant about the assholes who prolong wars by doing stuff they think is helping the cause while not requiring any effort on their part.