Actually Supporting the Troops
I posted this yesterday on my forum to show what actually supporting the troops looks like for all the rightwingers out there who think they support the troops more'n lefties like me do (which is with my taxes and not much else since I'd pretty much prefer the buggers would quit signing up so that General Rick Hillier could hog all the glory for himself - legitimately):
This is the paragraph I'll highlight because I admire George Smitherman for being out of the closet, unlike every other male politician in this country:
George Smitherman, deputy premier and minister of health and long-term care, said the elimination for military families of the three-month waiting period that typically applies to all new residents of Ontario will help up to 8,500 people each year.
This guy is still in the closet but I like this initiative, too:
Labour Minister Brad Duguid said the special leave for reservists acknowledges their sacrifice for their country and community."Ontarians who put their lives on the line to serve our country should never have to worry that their civilian jobs back home are on the line," Duguid said in a statement.
See? That's supporting the troops. Only governments can do it, really, and we the people have absolutely no say one way or the other once we've elected them (think about that when you vote for another Liberal or New Conservative Government of Canada, please) so it's nice when they come up with stuff all on their own, however after the fact it may be.
Anyway, my new position re Afghanistan is that we can't leave. It mirrors my position re the Americans in Iraq. That's because I just don't see how we can justify it in any way, even us, in our isolated moral universe of Fortress America. We can't invade and occupy other countries and then leave because the goings got tough.
Nope.
So this measure taken by the McGuinty Government is a good thing. It will teach voters that wars are expensive and you have to support the people fighting them with actual real dollars, over and above what regular citizens get by way of government support.
Personally, I think if you're going to vote for governments that go to war in this day and age, then you should also be prepared to give up your tax breaks and all that other nonsense political parties promise in order to get elected and fork that money directly over to the people who will be doing the fighting.
Oh, and political parties that promise tax breaks during election campaigns while the country is at war should be lined up on Parliament Hill and have rotten tomatoes thrown at them for being the duplicitous traitors to the troops that they are. They should not be elected the New Conservative Government of Canada.
