Veterans Day

This bleeding heart, for one, is grateful for the many Americans who have fought on behalf of this great nation, in wars just and unjust. No matter the cause, the political climate, the misguidedness of our leaders, our men and women in uniform lay their lives on the line in good faith service to our ideals.

Where there are problems, they never lie with the troops. This is not to say soldiers do not make mistakes, or do not act inappropriately and even barbarically from time to time. But, apart perhaps from a very few isolated instances, even this misconduct is the product of leadership, whether by affirmative direction, negligence, or simple fecklessness. And all too often, as in the current war, the leadership itself does not consist of veterans who know what it's like on the ground.

So thank you to those fighting and dying in service to the United States of America, and those who have done so before.