Sunday, January 25, 2015

American hero?

I am going to start this post by remembering my wife's brother in law, Joseph Barnaba, and some of the good times that we shared together.

I would always look forward to visiting Louisiana and hanging out with Joseph while our wives (Mrs. Field and her sister) hung out. This was before he was called to duty in Iraq and did a couple of tours during the height of that brutal campaign.

When Joseph came home from Iraq we all saw that he had changed. Unless you have lived through it, it's hard to explain to you the changes that some returning veterans go through. He would try to smile but his eyes were not smiling. He would look through you instead of at you, and you always got the sense that his mind was back on the streets of Ramadi or some other part of that god- forsaken country.

Joseph couldn't stay away from his comrades, and against his wife's wishes he went back for another tour. Sadly, it would eventually cost him his life. And it cost my sister in law, my wife, and his family; immeasurable grief.

 I took a few paragraphs to write about Joseph because I want to weigh in on this controversy surrounding the movie, American Sniper, and I want you to understand where I am coming from as it relates to this issue.

Unlike some of my friends on the left, I am not going to trash this movie and everything it stands for. Primarily because I think that we owe it to our fallen soldiers like Joseph to have a conversation about PTSD and other problems facing returning soldiers and their families. In my opinion this movie has generated such a buzz that it is causing us to have that conversation.

I wish we could have had it with Hurt Locker, (a better movie in my opinion) but that's just me. Better late than never I guess.

"Michael Moore         @MMFlint   Tomorrow's Sunday School (1) What Would Jesus Do? Oh, I know what he'd do -- hide on top of a roof and shoot people in the back!"

I do, however, believe that there is a certain amount of right wing flag- waving that goes on with movies like this that is a bit unsettling. Movies like this are embraced by FOX viewers and the chattering class over there for all the wrong reasons. Not because it shows the horrors of war, but because it gives us a chance to cheer on our good ole USA, as we send our young men and women off to die in misguided campaigns that are drawn up in Washington primarily for political reasons.

And then there is the man who the story is based on, Chris Kyle. From all accounts he was a racist and a lunatic. He was a man, it is alleged, who bragged about murdering looters during Katrina, and who, in his own words, "Loved  killing savages."

To be sure, this is one of the reasons that the right has embraced this film. To them the world is black and white, and if you are not with the USA you are against it. Kyle represents everything that is "good" about America to right wing false patriots for all the wrong reasons.

Chris Kyle didn't save America; he is not Super Man. Chris Kyle was one of many soldiers who volunteered to serve their country and did their job in a time of war. Some, like Joseph, paid the ultimate sacrifice, and some are still with us suffering with whatever demons attached itself to them in Iraq.

So I don't blame Michael Moore when he speaks out against the movie and the false narrative being created around Chris Kyle. Michael Moore has every right to speak his mind and give his opinions about a movie that he finds troubling. Good men like Joseph Barnaba died for him to have that right.







82 comments:

Anonymous said...

I developed PTSD in Vietnam. The memories are difficult for me to talk about. But my therapist encourages me to share them often. I've found telling my story helps to decrease my symptoms, the nightmares, the flashbacks, the moments shaking.

My experience in Vietnam was very traumatic and involved the sacrifice of a friend. It happened in a second. There we were. I heard a noise behind me, turned around and there is was on the floor. There was no time to run so my buddy made the ultimate sacrifice and threw himself on top of it.

It was a mouse in the middle of my hotel room. The little bastard bit him on the stomach and then ran away. My vacation was ruined. I'll never be able to forget what I saw that day. I'll never forget my friend's bravery. These memories will stay with me forever.

Anonymous said...

On the one hand a country has to have a military to not only defend itself,but also to conquer lands and loot.

On the other hand "war is hell" there is no way around it.

So I guess the answer is to only go to war in order to defend the country. Not to conquer lands?

War is hell. May your brother in law rest in peace,finally.

Josh said...

A person's views on war--as in their necessity or morality--need not come into play to be patriotic.

Seriously. A person can feel proud and root for Chris Kyle without asking the question, "But did we kill any innocents in our war? Are we just as bad?"

The right-wing does get to waving a flag, but a lot on the left-wing just instantly take to burning it whenever they feel America is being portrayed as anything but the villain of the world.

Michael Moore is a slimy, lying bastard. Whatever the faults of the Limbaughs and O'Reillys of the right, Moore more than makes up for on the left.

These types of movies do not have to cause a moral dilemma. You can root for and be proud for your nation without wringing hands and stomping feet over injustice and death to Bush and playing the imperialist card.

The Moores of the world have always depended on the Kyles of the world to keep their fat, lazy, cowardly asses safe. And that's a stone fact. It wasn't the Michael Moores fighting Hitler and the Nazis; it was the Chris Kyles. It wasn't Moore willing to stop the spread of dangerous ideologies in the past, it was Kyle. The Moores just reap the benefits, take their freedom for granted, and like to pretend that since we live in an age of color TV, no real threats or evil actually exist in the world, outside of American imperialism.

When ISIS takes over two or three more nations in the Middle East and puts together a swelling army, it will not be the Michael Moores of the world signing up to fight them off. It will be the Chris Kyles. Meanwhile, he'll be eating extra salty fries and planning a new documentary about minimum wage in the fast food industry -- something near and dear to his clogged heart.

Anonymous said...

Clogged arteries :) I agree with you! A military is necessary! So what can you do? Damned if you do,damned if you don't!

Perhaps the reasons for the wars are what make the difference. That's why I say not for conquering, but only for defending this country.

But then again one has to defend the friendly allies also. So it's really a conundrum, and one to which I do not have an answer. But I do know a military is def always needed.

Anonymous said...

Nothing makes a liberal more queasy than a movie about a real hero.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Field. We need to do more for military than lip service thanks for their service. My niece's husband just died, also by his own hand (Special Forces, still active duty after far too many tours in that terrible war). The vets suicide numbers are terrible, but I've found it hard to get a sense of that for active duty military.

Bill said...


The Field Negro said...
So I don't blame Michael Moore when he speaks out against the movie and the false narrative


I remember the old days laughing when rethugs whined about a michael moore documentary not being accurate.

And now dumbocrats have out crazied the rethuhgs and whine about a regular movie.

Hey, you know "Frozen" isn't real either.


One of my best friends is ex Special Forces. When Kyle got shot I asked him if he knew him. His first comment about the record shots was of course he shot more, he served more because he didn't want to go home to his wife. Quite the opposite of the hollywood movie designed to make money.

Anonymous said...

Psychopathic patriot. The military is full of them. Ours, theirs, every military all around the world. We fight wars because these nut cases rev them up amongst themselves, playing their little army games, suckering in stupid and dull-witted people and winding up killing millions of innocent people who just want to live their lives without some jerk in a uniform gunning them down for 'god', for 'country' or for 'freedom'.

Pick a country -- almost any country. The military is stuffed to the top of the can with the same kind of people.

People like Kyle are in every military. They don't protect us, they're the freakin' problem.

And yes, I'm a vet. Drafted in '69.

Limpbaugh said...

Jessie Ventura proved in court that Chris Kyle was a liar. And Ventura won a defamation lawsuit against Kyle.

field negro said...

Anon@5:29, I am sure u just loved Iron Man.

Anon@7:47, thank u for your service.

Anonymous said...

Anon@5:01, thank u for your service.

Anonymous said...

Michael Moore has a legal right to share his opinions. I just wish he spent a bit more time formulating those opinion before he shared them. Because a lot of the things he says are dumb.

I am personally a mostly liberal person. I share Moore's overall world view, and I feel his movies ask a lot of important questions. And yet ... the guy just isn't a very good spokesman for left-leaning values. He's the king of the cheap shot, the master of the obnoxious stunt. Many political issues are complex, and it's not helpful to simplify them down into snide one-liners the way he does.

As an example, take his movie "Bowling for Columbine," which was intended to address America's out-of-control gun culture. That movie featured stupid stunts like Moore trading nasty insults with Dick Clark (yes, that Dick Clark, the American Bandstand guy) on a golf course about how he treated the people who worked in his restaurants (who even knew Dick Clark owned restaurants?). So WTF does that have to do with gun policy? This was wayyyyy off the topic of his documentary.

There was another scene in which Moore told some lies to get the Alzheimers-addled Charlton Heston (then a figurehead for the NRA) to meet with him, so that he could ask Heston a bunch of insulting questions. Heston was just confused and did not answer anything. What did we learn from this exchange? Nothing, other than that Moore is a bit of a douche.

This is my problem with the guy: Clownish offensiveness for its own sake does nothing to advance anyone's understanding of our political system.

Michael Moore is on my shit list, along with Bill Maher and Russell Brand -- all are self-identified liberals who I wish would kindly shut up because they are not helping the cause of liberalism.

Anonymous said...

"Michael Moore is a slimy, lying bastard. Whatever the faults of the Limbaughs and O'Reillys of the right, Moore more than makes up for on the left."

That might be true, were it not for the fact that the right-wing media is made up of nothing but loathsome liars and bigots like Limbaugh, whereas there are but a handful of guys like Moore on the left. (And Moore's main fault is being a jerk, not a liar.)

So, no, sorry, not a convincing argument.

Josh said...

"So, no, sorry, not a convincing argument."

Nor would it be to someone who says there's only a handful of guys like that on the left. lol Holy shit. I don't know if you can find an even match 1:1, but being a partisan pretty much already makes one an asshole. For every O'Reilly, you're bound to find a Tim Wise or Ed Schultz or another lunatic. And even if it's not 1:1, it has to be 5/6:1.

There are enough liberal Democrats in America to elect a Democrat President two times in a row, to have control over the vast majority of television and print media, to own academia, and to basically own Hollywood -- barring the exceedingly rare film like American Sniper. So the left is out there in full force. To say there's only a handful comparable to O'Reilly is like the cicadas coming back and thinking you have a cricket problem.

PilotX said...

America is a violent country, always has been and always will. Movies with lots of violence will continue to be made and continue to do very well. American Sniper is just another in this long list.

And sorry for your family's loss.

Anonymous said...

"Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets."

-George S. Patton

Anonymous said...

Blogger PilotX:Freeing slaves from the Republican plantation since the 70's said...
America is a violent country, always has been and always will. Movies with lots of violence will continue to be made and continue to do very well. American Sniper is just another in this long list.

And sorry for your family's loss.

11:29pm
--------------------
American has not 'always' been a violent country. It was a rather peaceful country during slavery before the Civil War.

America got dragged into WWI, WWII when we were attacked. Before Pearl Harbor we were isolated and gentle and kind. Then the Japaneses attacked us and the rest if history.

We must keep fighting the 'bad' guys who want to destroy us and Israel.

Anonymous said...

Field, take it from me, Kyle did a splendid job as a sniper. Kyle was made for war and he showed that he was. He did four tours of duty.

That's not unusual for soldiers to reup for war duty several times, esp the ones who love it.

Believe it or not, there is a sense of total freedom for the warrior in time of war.

Anonymous said...

Brother Field, you are a good blogger. Have you thought of writing a book? Think about it.

Bill said...


The Field Negro said...
I do, however, believe that there is a certain amount of right wing flag- waving that goes on with movies like this that is a bit unsettling.


As such you should be able to understand why the other half of the country is unsettled when they see your side, "Unlike some of my friends on the left" trash the movie because of partisan politics.


Perspective..

President Obama gets interviewed by someone that huffs cinnamon and eats cereal in a bathtub.


No wonder dumbocrats hate American Sniper.

Anonymous said...

PilotX:Freeing slaves from the Republican plantation since the 70's said...
America is a violent country, always has been and always will. Movies with lots of violence will continue to be made and continue to do very well. American Sniper is just another in this long list.
----

Django Unchained was pretty violent.

Anonymous said...

The dishonorable man is always offended by the virtues in others which he himself lacks.

Anonymous said...

Fields,

You eat any Y-Bone lately?

Anonymous said...

"Field, take it from me, Kyle did a splendid job as a sniper. Kyle was made for war and he showed that he was. He did four tours of duty."

Kyle had excellent aim with a rifle. He also had an awful personality (racist, serial liar, general lunatic).

His life ended as a result of taking a dude with PTSD to a firing range, which ought to put him on a fast track to a Darwin Award.

Eastwood left Kyle's awful personality out of the movie -- because no one would want to go see a movie about such an unsympathetic jackass, no matter how combat-effective he might be -- and that's what got the whole left-versus-right controversy rolling.

Anonymous said...

"no one would want to go see a movie about such an unsympathetic jackass"

Is that why Selma bombed?

Anonymous said...

Selma bombed because people know history.

Anonymous said...

Dear 1:06,

You sound like a pussy.

Sincerely,

Clint

Anonymous said...

UNKNOWN

I have joined my forefathers
I am carved in stone
I am unknown
I fought and died
On battlefields in another time
Then I went home
To carry on like nothing happened
Feeling like I was gone and never seen again
Or that I was missing for a time
Or still missing
Or realizing that I was never missed
Not even the living remember me
As I rest here
Poof that not even the dead are free
Of their deeds
Their families left behind
To carry on like nothing happened
Leaving this soldier
Unseen
Unnamed
Unspoken
For I am hideous to them
But I cannot be fully ignored
So they need a symbol of me
So they wrap me in the flag
For I am a delicate matter
My victories are unspeakable
My fears intolerable
My failures unacceptable
They don't dare to imagine them
So they cover me up
With the very soil I fell defending
To carry on like nothing happened
They salute me night and day
While beneath their breath, a curse
They judge my conduct
They argue war
They argue peace
They argue pleasures
They argue freedoms
While they fail to appreciate
They have not joined me here
In this death of sacrifice
While they forget me
And I turn to dust
And they do not care
For one day
They know
New flesh will replace me
Enabling them
To carry on like nothing happened

Anonymous said...

"Django Unchained was pretty violent."

Gee, and we thought Field's trolls were dumb. Thanks Capt. Obvious.

"Is that why Selma bombed?"

Nope, it's because it was an historical movie and didn't have superheroes or talking animals. We're talking about America here.

field negro said...

Anon@3:52, great response to the troll who tried to rip Selma.

Anon@11:55, you must be a right-wing republican. Did u really say that America was "peaceful" during slavery?

Lord u wingnuts are clueless.

Anonymous said...

@Anon 3:04 AM

Yep! and thus "enabling them to carry on like nothing happened"

and continue warring...

California Girl said...

your first commentor (SP?) is quite the comic.

haven't heard anything about the real Chris Kyle until now & I doubt I'll see the movie just because the one review I did read described the gore in plenty of detail. Not for me.

One of my best friends suffered PTSD for years after VietNam. He is one of the kindest gentlest people I know but it changed him. Luckily, he did not have to or want to go back.

The ISIL/ISIS infiltrations leave us wondering what's next. I don't think we can stamp them out. We haven't so far and the world is a much smaller more accessible place now. I was all for reducing the security at airports. I was wrong. We aren't safe. But sending our military men & women to parts unknown to fight an unseen enemy while they have to deal with the "collateral damage" of innocent folk doesn't seem to solve anything either.

anotherbozo said...

good, thoughtful article on American Sniper, Field. Worth a read.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-kim/rethink-review-american-s_b_6529566.html

Bill said...


field negro said...
Anon@3:52, great response to the troll who tried to rip Selma.


You missed the point.

As American Sniper started breaking box office records, dumbocrats reacted by trashing the film.

Rethugs reacted and supported American Sniper breaking even more box office records.


Dumbocrats never supported Selma like rethugs supported American Sniper.

Why didn't dumbocrats support a movie from "their side?" Because many white dumbocrats think the black produced movie lied about LBJ.

Trashing white rethugs wins you awards. Trashing white dumbocrats gets you snubbed at the Oscars.

Harvey Weinstein said...

"Why didn't dumbocrats support a movie from "their side?"

99% of movies are from their side, they only have so much time and money to spend at the movies.

Bill said...


I thought The Onion was satire.

No One Murdered Because Of This Image...
The image of the Hebrew prophet Moses high-fiving Jesus Christ as both are having their erect penises vigorously masturbated by Ganesha, all while the Hindu deity anally penetrates Buddha with his fist, reportedly went online at 6:45 p.m. EDT, after which not a single bomb threat was made against the organization responsible, nor did the person who created the cartoon go home fearing for his life in any way

http://www.theonion.com/articles/no-one-murdered-because-of-this-image,29553/


Satire that proves a point.

Bill said...


field negro said...
even after mid-term losses he is acting like he is king of the world.


Acting.

While the world notices...

NEW DELHI: In an ungainly sight, cameras caught US President Brack Obama chewing gum during the Republic Day parade on Monday.
...
Obama was slammed on social media for chewing gum at the APEC summit held in Beijing. Obama was also caught chewing gum at a World War II ceremony in France.

Earlier, in a departure from tradition, the chief guest at the Republic Day parade, US President Barack Obama, on Monday arrived in his own highly-secured bomb-proof vehicle, 'The Beast,' at Rajpath.

The Republic Day chief guest normally travels with the President of India in his car from Rashtrapati Bhavan.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Barack-Obama-chews-gum-as-parade-marches-on/articleshow/46018217.cms


Seems like Obama doesn't like tradition.

EXCEPT when the Israeli prime minister is invited to speak in front of congress.

Then Obama and his minons cry and whine about tradition.

Dumbocrats and their silly double standards.

Bill said...


Number Of Homeless Children In America Surges To All-Time High: Report
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/17/child-homelessless-us_n_6169994.html


The rich people that donated to Obama are enjoying how Obama fixed the economy for them.


Those that couldn't afford to donate lots of money to Obama didn't get any help.

Anonymous said...

Unless you believe the president’s spectacular misinterpretation of a non-existent 97% consensus that all scientists believe the president’s wild misinterpretation of spectacularly broken climate models which indicate nothing like the president claims and are based on spectacularly altered data made by a few NASA and NCDC employees who report to the president, you are a flat earther and a threat to the children and must be stopped, particularly if it provides the president an opportunity to destroy the constitution.

field negro said...

Yawn.

Anonymous said...

I understand the lost of American sons and daughters; uncles, fathers, cousins, aunties...

Sad, indeed!

I always wonder of the occupied sons, daughters, fathers, grandfathers, grandmothers, aunties with our friendly American bombs sole intent is to bring those "towel heads" "freedom."

Anonymous said...

field negro said...
Yawn.

^^^^^

Why letting negroes vote was a bad idea.

Anonymous said...

Fields,

I agree. Your blog is putting me to sleep. YYYYAAAAAWWWWWWWNNNNNN!

Anonymous said...

12:28PM,

You are obviously a conscript in the army of stupidity.

President Worm said...

"One of the big ironies here is that President Obama, in his statement, said how close he was to King Abdullah... King Abdullah did not like President Obama. In fact, a lot of people I know that are quite close to the late King Abdullah said that the king could not stand President Obama. This close personal bond between the president and the late Saudi leader, I think, is people being polite at a time of a national funeral.”

I guess Obama didn't bow deep enough.

field negro said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
field negro said...

Anon@12:33, and yet u are here.
You must lead an incredibly boring life.
I guess u can only visit the local Wal-Mart so many times before it starts getting old.

May I suggest a hobby?

Anonymous said...

Field, I am pissed that Miss Jamaica didn't win Miss Universe. That woman was flawless and beautiful..a human rarity that those sorry ass white judges couldn't bring themselves to be honest and fair.

Have you seen her? Stunning!

field negro said...

Oh yes, Kaci Fennell; she was robbed. :(

That's a good catch,Anon.

Anonymous said...

Kaci Fennell sure looks like she has a lot of European ancestry.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Kaci Fennell sure looks like she has a lot of European ancestry.

1:34 PM
------------
Nope. That's what a Jamaican woman looks like.

The Purple Cow said...

"The rich people that donated to Obama are enjoying how Obama fixed the economy for them.

Those that couldn't afford to donate lots of money to Obama didn't get any help."


Comrade Bill, on the money again...

Joder La Resistencia said...

"From all accounts he was a racist and a lunatic."

Let me fix it for ya-


"From all LIBERAL accounts he was a racist and a lunatic."


The only people who are slandering Chris are libs with agendas.

Were where you at when Chris was alive and could defend himself?

Typical of the left. Wait til a person is dead before you have the balls to criticize.



"So I don't blame Michael Moore"

Of course you wouldn't. You will cheer his lies and hate.

Joder La Resistencia said...

Anonymous Bill said...
Number Of Homeless Children In America Surges To All-Time High: Report
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/17/child-homelessless-us_n_6169994.html


C'mon man! You know the only time the left gives two chits and wants to talk about the poor, homeless in this country is when Republicans are in the house.

Yīshēng said...

It's NO coincidence that the majorkty of Miss Universe winners have African heritage.

Bill said...


field negro said...
Yawn.


I agree. Nothing new, it is getting boring.

Every day America seems to set a new record for homeless, poverty or the rich getting richer.

Except people on the left have given up caring about poor people with a dumbocrat in the White House.

What is happening to your party Field Negro?

field negro said...

Shhhhh.He has never strayed far from his little town. :)

Joder La Resistencia said...

So it's Jan. 26 and there's already been 23 murders in Killadelphia ?

Does that top the murder count in Chiraq?






field negro said...

Kinky, the beautiful thing about facts is that they never change.

field negro said...

As for the murder count. Not to worry, your friends at the NRA are fine with it as long as brown people are being killed.

Sadly for you, though, the next Newton is just around the corner.

Joder La Resistencia said...

Tru dat. So let me know when you have some. Liberal lies and slander gets old quick.

Bill said...


señor kinky said...
C'mon man! You know the only time the left gives two chits and wants to talk about the poor, homeless in this country is when Republicans are in the house.


Of course.

One only has to google "homeless bush" to see how Field Negro's party talked about the poor being left behind in the bush economy.

Because of partisan politics, the same people are going crickets about record homelessness.

field negro said...

Two republicans feigning outrage over homelessness. Now that's rich.
That's like a whore saying oral sex is disgusting.

Bill said...


Field negro said...
As for the murder count. Not to worry, your friends at the NRA are fine with it as long as brown people are being killed.


???

Your party is accepting of black on black murders and only speaks up when a black is killed by a white cop and you blame the NRA?

Anonymous said...

"Nope. That's what a Jamaican woman looks like."

I thought Jamaicans were black, no?

Anonymous said...

"That's like a whore saying oral sex is disgusting."

Or Yisheng criticizing Affirmative Action.

Anonymous said...

Blogger señor kinky said...
So it's Jan. 26 and there's already been 23 murders in Killadelphia ?

-------------
You LIE! You are a racist.

Bill said...


field negro said...
Two republicans feigning outrage over homelessness.


Where's your party even feigning?

Record homeless, in the old days under bush would be headline news.


field negro said...
even after mid-term losses he is acting like he is king of the world.


Record homeless and Obama acts like the king of the world.

That's your party Field.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
"Nope. That's what a Jamaican woman looks like."

I thought Jamaicans were black, no?

3:39 PM
----------
Of course they are Black. What are you trying to say? that Miss Jamaica is White? GET REAL.

Anonymous said...

Can somebody tell me what has happened to FP? I miss the spiritual aspect of FN.

Field, did you not pay FP like you did Anon, Inc?

Wait....let's make this simple: 'Who' have you paid?

Anonymous said...

"Of course they are Black. What are you trying to say? that Miss Jamaica is White? GET REAL."

She ain't black:

http://imguol.com/c/noticias/2015/01/19/jamaica---kaci-fennell-1421703203086_956x500.jpg

Mark said...

American Sniper largely sidesteps the big political questions about the war on terror. The film is primarily about the heroism of soldiers who, thrust into battle by larger forces, do their best to protect each other and innocent Iraqis. Clint Eastwood, often described as one of the few prominent right-wingers in Hollywood, opposed the invasion of Iraq and questioned the invasion of Afghanistan.

Even so, the film's lack of left-wing politics has been treated in some quarters as an unpardonable sin. Any account of Kyle's personal heroism is somehow invalid unless it is couched in an extraneous political context tarring the war he fought in as immoral.

The left has tried to avoid the anti-American stain it acquired in the Vietnam era by making sure to mouth platitudes about supporting the troops while criticizing the war. The reaction to American Sniper seems to suggest this pose is insincere. Either you’re rooting for Kyle and his fellow soldiers or you're rooting for AQI. There is no middle ground in American Sniper. The film simply asks audiences to consider the motivations of American soldiers on the ground in Iraq, and then asks whether or not these motivations make them heroic.

This may be a difficult question for the Field Negro, but the film and its rapturous audiences answer it with a resounding yes.

Anonymous said...

Dear Fields,

I admire your concern for the poor. I became frustrated with the Democratic Party back in the 1990's over the issue of poverty. Infact, Clinton was the last Dem I voted for. What I saw was alot of poor people being treated like sheep instead of human beings. Welfare benefits were capped arbitrarily and it became harder to get assistance. This was my breaking point as a Democrat.

I know most of us liberals, former and current, don't like the idea, but helping the poor directly seems to work best. I've seen it work. I find that usually works better than government programs, though some of those will always be needed.

I my experience, there's nothing like people helping people. That care, not just the support, is what changes the situation in the end. Being believed in by an individual can make a huge difference in a person's life and help them get back the dignity and self-confidence poverty often takes away. Relationship change relationships. Impersonal programs usually just sustain the condition of poverty.

Anonymous said...

It's a good thing Yisheng doesn't read other people's comments, cause she really got tore a new one in yesterday's post.

StillaPanther2 said...

Brother Field.. As always I respect your families' sacrifice of a love one. Very few Americans are touched by the many wars of the past fifty years. (I will also include Korea in the wars). As I see some comments, they are very hurtful to the few that experienced the during and aftermath of war. One fact about PTSD. It was recognized by the government in the 1980s and the VA lagged soon after. The majority of my peers suffered and died (suicide, homicide) during this period of inadequate care.

I will not put my experience out because the critical comments will come from people that only know war by what movie they have seen.

I will see Sniper soon. I do know that the armed forces use special people for special needs. Today 2014, I am against all these wars that are held in Third World arenas. I know the Majority like the deck stacked.

Brother Field I am sure that other veterans can attest to your relative's need to be with his comrades, Bless you and your family.

field negro said...

Thank you SAP2. And again, TY for your service.

Anonymous said...

Since 2000, 10 of the winners are not white and there were a couple from Puerto Rico also. So I guess at a minimum 12 winners since 2000 are non white.

Shove your racism up your ass. Playing the race card is so fucking pathetic. I feel bad for you and people like you that see everything through the lens of racism.

Anonymous said...

No. That is blatantly untrue. Do some research.

Anonymous said...

Not sure. But they definitely have a similar demographic in common don't they?


It's Eskimos.

Anonymous said...

"Since 2000, 10 of the winners are not white"

Winners of what?

Anonymous said...

From Wikipedia:

"Jamaica was first settled by the Lebanese who brought their fastest slaves with them so as to communicate across the island. This is why Jamaicans are known as good sprinters. Later, many Japanese and Australian Aborigines immigrated to the island. Today, there are only a very few black people left, mostly living in the hills, who play reggae music and are always high."

Anonymous said...

Field,
Moore said he specifically WASNT talking about the movie.