LAST EDITED ON 03-05-05 AT 10:37 PM (EST)

LAST EDITED ON 03-05-05 AT 10:23 PM (EST)

"Dan needs just as much help as the conservative mom"?

And I couldn't disagree with you more. Ok, so maybe Dan's approach was a little on the verge of confrontational, and I'dl be the first to admit that he came on a wee bit too strong, but I couldn't applaud his parents more for raising such a confidant, independent minded, verbally assertive and morally justified son. Come on, give the kid a little bit of credit here.

Since when did questioning authority become a bad thing? Tell me, I'd really like to know. Was Hitler's rise to power and the systematic death of millions not a direct result of the world's indifference (aka, failure to confront an authoritative figure before it was too late)? It's strange to me how so many of us can be so quick to dismiss the argument of an “informed youth” based on the same sort of old fashioned riff-raff that denied women the right to vote and enslaved the black man. I can already tell you that my grandparents would have been outraged by Dan's behavior while I, on the other hand, am saddened by the blind conformity with which the army wife has so dedicatedly surrendered her life.

This is not an issue of whether or not we support the troops; of course any rightfully minded person can have nothing but the deepest gratitude and the untmost respect for any person risking their "everything" for our "something". What we cannot EVER fail to question, however, is the deciding factor in determining whether or not the "something" is worth risking "everything" for.