The Korean war veteran:
The Young Marines:
The Patriot Guard Riders:
After taking these pictures, I go to my usual café, find a table, and start working on getting them uploaded. I hear a middle aged woman talking to the barista:
What is it? Veterans Day? There are soldiers everywhere.
Her voice drops a note on the words "veterans" and "soldiers." She's got a slight sarcastic tone as if she thinks she's saying something funny.
Imagine. Soldiers. In Madison.
IN CASE IT ISN'T OBVIOUS: To all the veterans, thank you. My parents were WWII veterans. I do not exist except as something that came from veterans. We all owe our world to the service of veterans. Your world is more real than ours. Today, I saw a veteran carrying a banner that said, "Freedom is not free." We know we owe that to you. And we are all humbled by your service. I feel that especially, because I know that I would never have lived if my mother had not felt an insipiration to join the Army and met my father there.
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40 comments:
Did you explain the significance of poppies to her?
or maybe it was just weird to see packs of soldiers roaming the streets?
... i miss madison coffee shops. maybe the democrats can redistribute madison's coffee wealth to more needy areas... like the twin cities.
Guess she thought that after the disasterous democratic win the soldiers were there to protect america from the immiediate invasion of the islamofascists and the democrats...I mean that is what I thought when I saw soldiers in the streets. At last, thought I, every single thing that rush limbaugh and karl rove said about a potential democratic win has come true.
aimai
But don't question her patriotism. She supports the troops!
Too bad the woman wasn't around 150 years ago - talk about soldiers in Madison - anyone ever heard of Camp Randall and its original purpose?
Did she have a Portuguese accent and answer to Teresa?
I spent the afternoon in Annapolis, in beautiful weather, giving cigars to midshipmen, thanking them for their service to our country. I toured the USNA, saw John Paul Jones' tomb and the Naval Academy chapel. I took pictures of USMC members, and both men and women midshipmen. I always rememberd to thank them for their service to our country.
Meanwhile, up in Wisconsin ...
Well, you get the point.
I think that that kind of Democrat is what got Zell Miller into a frenzy.
Ward Churchill said that our volunteer troops should shoot their officers in the back of the head.
I think it's probably healthy that someone says the opposite of what all their neighbors are saying.
There's nothing more frightening than a conga line.
Only individuals exists. Ann is an individual. Therefore she exists.
David Killoren, your interpretations of my words and thoughts are pretty far off. I don't choose political opinions for fun. I may select which opinions to express and choose my form of expression out of a sense of how the people I know react to things, but that isn't the same. If I were surrounded by right wingers instead of left wingers, the snipes I'd take would be at right wingers, because those would be the people who were annoying me. I'm still in the same position.
As to watching reality shows, I watch about 1 or 2 hours a week, and I watch about 0 hours of fiction TV (comedies and dramas). If you think that's a lot, you're a prig.
Badger thinks I made up the quote in the post. Man, if I were making up quotes on this blog, there'd be a lot more quotes and they'd be much more scathing and funny. If I have it in quotes it's as near to verbatim as I can get it. And that one is either verbatim or one word off -- and only because of memory failure, not intent to distort.
You folks who like the idea of portraying me as dishonest need to look elsewhere for the fulfilment of your grubby little hopes. Losers.
Badger:
Are you accusing your hostess here of lying about something she actually witnessed?
Pretty serious accusation if you ask me.
You sound unhinged.
Please read what Forbes, and Money Magazine say about Madison, and its booming bio-tech and health care sectors, highly skilled work base, low cost of doing business, and 3% unemployment rate. Madison has the highest number of Ph.D.s per capita, and 3rd highest number of college graduates per capita, than any other city in the America...
I can see you think you're making a big point here, but most people realized a long time ago that the vast majority of liberals are college-educated and well-off. They stopped representing the Average Joe a long time ago. Telling us that Madison is a liberal enclave AND very prosperous is hardly edifying.
Anne said...
What is it? Veterans Day? There are soldiers everywhere.
I'd like to rip her head off, but on the other hand, I'm a Vet. My mother is the same sort. George Orwell said it best...
People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
Welcome to Wisconsin!
We Are Practically Canadians!
(at least until the Eeeevil Boooosh Regime is impeached!!!)
At least that's what I see as a subtext to Prof. Althouse's eavesdropped coffeehouse conversation.
And maybe it's a good idea to remember that what once was known as Armistice Day hereabouts (and is still Remembrance Day in most of the Commonwealth), didn't stay a day to commemorate the last war to end all wars, and instead due to excessive appeasement in the face of an obviously evil fascistic movement, Europe had to soon fight another war to end all wars (which also failed to end all wars, though Western European nations have managed not to attack each other since then).
Lessons for the here and now abound, hopefully the Democratic leadership are listening (Questioning their patriotism? No! Questioning their resolve? Yes! Will I also miss Rumsfeldian auto-question answering? Good Gosh Yes!)
And a big hearty thank you to all Veterans, American, Canadian, British, Australian, and more recent allies like the Poles and Kurds, just to name a few, who have fought in opposition to fascism, communism, and all the other antagonistic -isms that hate liberty and therefore hate the United States.
What the left wants is to dance with Al-Qaida as our cities burn.
A thousand Mogadishus!
Ann, I second the sentiment at the end of your post. My father's father died in WWII, and his adopted father served in WWII, along with his german shepard, "Ole Boy."
Badger,
All you have to do is surf around a bit on the internets to run across a lot of people who sound like the woman Ann quoted. Your protestations ring hollow as a result. I'm sorry you're in the same political camp as these people, and obviously you don't agree with them. But that doesn't mean they don't exist.
Zeimer, I wouldn't want to live in Madison, but that's solely because of the weather. And calling it a hick burg with a big college (and in Madison's case the state capitol) doesn't capture the flavor of a place like that at all. It's a college town.
College towns are great places to live. You get the advantages of a smaller town (less traffic & congestion, closer connection to the community as a whole, more access to wide open sapces), but also get a lot of cultural opportunities that aren't normally available in small towns. I would love to live in a college town again, and will seriously consider moving to one when/if I retire. College towns rock!
PS For the record, I'm a conservative. The fact that the vast majority of residents in a collge town are liberal really doesn't matter.
Badger:
If you are so suspicious, why not go elsewhere? It is not likely that many of us would miss you.
For someone so new here, you might consider being less confrontational.
Instead of showcasing the overwhelmingly vast majority of patriotic Madisonians on Veterans Day...
Like the ones in the pictures?
I don't live in Madison now, but I did for many years and I visit pretty often. I agree that it's a great place to live. Being a great place to live - or enriched for the educated - doesn't mean it's free of idiots.
"Like the ones in the pictures?" Juliet at 8:09 pm
Thank you, Juliet. I was just about to scroll back up and see if I had only imagined the people in the pictures.
Having lived in or very near several 'college towns' (i.e. small cities where the major employer was a state university and the 'townie' full-time population was barely a majority over the 'gown' college population) I can say that they're great fun to live in as long as you can handle the strong Leftist opinion cocoon and the inability of most to admit that the place is only prosperous because it exists mostly on tax funds taken from their less-educated fellow citizens. (College funds from tax sources -- direct grants, tuition paid by tax-subsidized grants and loans and other funds directed from state govt to the university are usually well over 2/3 of the total.)
Good restaurants, good entertainment, usually decent government and so on make them good places to live. However, in many ways they are parasitic on the rest of the state's population.
Also, I tend to resent the condescension directed at the non-Academic world that is so often a part of the culture.
It reminds me of the deliberate obtuseness demonstrated on this thread by a couple of posters. Disingenuousness is hardly a sound basis for debate, no matter how highly the person demonstrating it thinks of him/herself.
baddger: "Perhaps I could have been more subtle, as Ann is, and to suggest that this post is one of an annoyingly long line of posts sniping at liberals"
....
vnjagvet: "Badger: If you are so suspicious, why not go elsewhere?"
knoxgirl: liberal crazies exist!!!
johnny nucleo: Lefties and the military are like the Klan and blacks!!!
*yawn.
==========================
I like Ann's blog cause it's well written and has some great madison pics. But, I cannot stand any more of these posts, so I'm finally taking it off the ol' RSS feed.
Yea, the coffee shop conversation probably happened (unlike some who thought it was a lie). But, it may have been misinterpreted and even if it wasn't, why the post "sniping at liberals" yet again?
Because it fits the Althouse template! Here it is:
Post a slightly ambiguous political statement. (does "counterpoint" mean the opposite of remembering troops is always crazy lefties? discuss!), This will imply to your audience, "See, conservatives? Worldview confirmed! Those crazy lefties always do [tired stereotype]!" This could be most effective on "anti-liberal holidays" ... like Veteran's Day!
People like Kirby or Johnny Nucleo will eat it up, and a liberal will feel slightly irritated. This liberal will say something like "But i do support the troops! I do support a free and stable Mideast!" This obviously won't be believed.
Then they'll be a typical response: "Oh I didn't mean [lefty stereotype]!" (I am just courageously reporting on environment!) Distinguish the facts.
Sometimes, a far lefty commenter will pop up, saying something reeeally inflammatory which confirms that every liberal is Cindy Sheehan. (unfortunately we missed that here). More back and forth. (What a great exchange for Veterans Day!)
The original liberal gets tired of pleading stuff like liberals and the military aren't, like the KKK and blacks. And if the original post was designed for this effect, what's the point anyway?
It's like a slow motion O'Reilly.
My husband's mother's only brother was killed in WW2. I asked my husband today if he knew where his uncle was buried, and if the body was there. He didn't. She has lived since the 1940's with this pain. I alway thank her today. Her life was changed forever as was mine. Her brother made my life free. She lives with the loss. She lives north of Madison and does not dwell on what she lost she hopes always that her brother's sacrifice is remembered.
kathyb said...
My husband's mother's only brother was killed in WW2. I asked my husband today if he knew where his uncle was buried,
The ABMC link below has a database of 173 thousand WWII casulties that you can sure for your husband's uncle. Thanks for his sacrifice. Watch the D Day Video while you are there.
American Battle Monuments Commission
Ruth Anne Adams said...
Did you explain the significance of poppies to her?
The Brits do Remembrance Day much better than we do Veterans Day.
search
If I didn;t have that pain in the a$$ link in there, I'd just repost it.
:)
Prof. Althouse:
Thanks for your kind words for veterans today. I honor the commitment of people like your parents and my grandfather.
Thanks also to you, Drill SGT, wherever you are. Are you Drill Sergeant Maniscalco, the gruffest man I ever knew and my first encounter with your kind? Or are you Drill Sergeant Young, a somewhat milder yet equally firm disciplinarian and teacher? Whoever you are, thank you and thank your brethren.
I regret to say that today I did not in any way participate in the honoring of those who served. I was instead touring a law school with the intention of putting my future JD to use in the service of the Army's JAG Corps.
To the rest of you out there who served, thank you as well. To those of you out there who would impugn the service and commitment of these fine individuals, sleep well. They've got your back anyway.
Hi.. I thought you and your readers may like to read this speech given to over 250 veterans: http://www.guyrandalladams.com/vet.html
Debra...
Cedarford said...
a Dentist not speaking a word of French who gathered up and led a French calvary squad to rout and shoot up a German raiding party
Ah, the first rule of the calvary.
Lead!
Follow!
Or get the hell out of the way!
I worked at the Golden Gate National Cemetery and every day I would see stones from people who were 19, 20, 21 years old when they died. So we could have the freedoms we enjoy today.
Thanks, Ann.
Madison has the highest number of Ph.D.s per capita, and 3rd highest number of college graduates per capita, than any other city in the America. I think this is what really frightens her.
All the more reason to believe the conversation occured just as she stated. There is no love-lost between the acadamic elite and the military.
Wispered and not-so-wispered conversations like this take place all the time within the left. And when they are talking they are running recruiters off of campuses or dousing their offices with red paint.
Don't call her a liar because she pointed it out.
My wife and I, both vets, thank the men and women serving now and those who served before us. And we don't have to lower our voices to do it.
Although I've never been to Wisconsin, my great, great, great, Uncle Hiram David Haskins was killed at Pilots Knob in 1865 during the final days of the Civil War. He was a Lieutenant with the 110th New York Volunteers. His picture in uniform complete with sword and him sporting a full beard is in my foyer.
Veteran's day was originally observed on November 11th, moved to the fourth monday in October, and then moved back to November 11th. That may explain some of the confusion surrounding remembrance.
people like O'Reilly
It's like a slow motion O'Reilly.
with O'Reilly, take with a grain of salt
I would just like to say "Congratulations, you've arrived" to Bill O'Reilly, even though I can't stand him. Used to be that liberals would come out with the old "You sound like Rush Limbaugh!" rejoinder whenever faced with an argument they couldn't win. Now O'Reilly is starting to catch up... three references in one thread!!!
Badger,
You're like a drunk wandering in a bar intending to pick a fight.
Anyone says anything and you respond with a predetermined harangue.
Did you get into a harsh argument with someone recently, but don't feel the ability to yell back at them all the things you wish you said?
Hate to burst your bubble here. Your side doesn't "own" the military. Your side doesn't "own" the Flag. Your side doesn't "own" partriotism. Never have.
No we don't own any of those things . . but . . we are the side that supports our military unconditionally no matter what war they are fighting, and we are the side that doesn't mind swearing alliegance to that flag, and we are the side that talks up our country instead of talking it down.
We treat those things as if we own them - you treat like you are renting.
Badger,
On Veterans Day, what contribution did you make?
Hint: nothing.
Speaks volumes about you, doesn't it?
How sad that Governor Doyle could not be bothered to show up (unless he was elsewhere attending another similar ceremony).
The same holds true for any Governor who failed to personally honor the fallen on Veterans Day.
To the person above who talked about Hiram David Haskins, I would love a photo of his portrait for my genealogy. He was my 3rd great grandfather. I do have one photo of him but I am not sure it is the same one you have. Please contact me at byrwill@yahoo.com
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