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Have you heard of " Red Fridays"?

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femmocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:00 PM
Original message
Have you heard of " Red Fridays"?
This has me really peeved. We got this email at work, followed by an announcement to "wear red to support our troops who are fighting for our freedom. AUUUGH!!! Sorry it's so long, but it is just such blatant propaganda, that I wanted to include the entire context of it. Here goes...



""You are invited to join me in remembering our loved ones in service...

Subject: Fw: Wear something Red this Friday and every Friday


If the Red shirt thing is new to you, read below...

Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a Marine sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two and two together.

After we boarded our flight, I turned to the sergeant, who had been invited to sit in First Class (across from me), and inquired if he was heading home.

"No," he responded.
"Heading out?" I asked.
"No. I'm escorting a soldier home."
"Going to pick him up?"
"No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq, I'm taking him home to his family."

The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch to the gut. It was an honor for him. He told me that although he didn't know the soldier, he had delivered the news of his death to the soldier's family and felt as if he knew them after many conversations in so few days.

I turned back to him, extended my hand, and said, "Thank you. Thank you for doing what you do so that my family and I can do what we do."

Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made the following announcement over the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor of having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on this flight. He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family. I ask that you please remain in your seats when we open the forward door to allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow soldier. We will then turn off the seat belt sign."

Without a sound, all went as requested. I noticed the sergeant saluting the casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action made me realize that I am proud to be an American.

So here's a public "Thank You" to our military Men and Women for what you do so we can live the way we do:

Red Fridays.

Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the "silent majority." We are no longer silent, and we are voicing our love for God, country and home in record-breaking numbers. We are not organized, boisterous or overbearing.

Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday -- and it continues each and every Friday until the troops all return home, sending a deafening message: that every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.

By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers. If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family, it will not be long before the USA is covered in red and it will let our troops know that the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever -- certainly more than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things better for you?" is, "We need your support and your prayers." Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example, and wear something red every Friday.

IF YOU AGREE -- THEN PLEASE SEND THIS ON.
IF YOU COULDN'T CARE LESS -- THEN HIT THE DELETE BUTTON (and try to face yourself in the mirror...) ""



------ End of Forwarded Message


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KG Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:17 PM
Response to Original message
1. blargh!
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femmocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:26 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. ITA
After reading another post (about emails), I checked it out on Snopes. It was actually a Canadian idea (thus, the red). I searched for "Sgt. Steeley" (etc.) but couldn't find anything on that bit of tripe. I so wanted to forward a snopes link to the gullible souls who fell for this at work.

And... get this, it's EVERY Friday now! :gagme: (BTW, I wore green today!) ;)
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evlbstrd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:30 PM
Response to Original message
3. Where I live
it's the Friday before Chiefs games.
The best way to honor the troops is to stop killing them.
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Redstone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:36 PM
Response to Reply #3
5. Hey, I was cleaning my office and saw your resume today! You still have that job,
or did you end up going with the freelancing?

Redstone
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evlbstrd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-13-08 11:26 AM
Response to Reply #5
13. Still at the agency.
Everything else is in flux, so it's been OK.
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Redstone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:35 PM
Response to Original message
4. Oh Christ, another variation of the same tired old bullshit.
I get that people are dumb and gullible, but why are so many of them SO dumb and SO gullible for SO long?

Redstone
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femmocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:48 PM
Response to Reply #4
10. I know... it's beyond belief.
And these are supposedly "educated" people. :eyes:
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AlCzervik Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:39 PM
Response to Original message
6. i remember the red shirt hooey right after 9/11 but it didn't last very long.
everything comes back, next up stories about teens dirty dancing.
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femmocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:45 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. We had red, white, and blue days for what seemed like forever.
I usually wore black.
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rug Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:40 PM
Response to Original message
7. They do that at my kids' school.
I bought each of them a red t-shirt and stenciled a white peace sign on it. That's what they wear on Fridays now.
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femmocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:47 PM
Response to Reply #7
9. That is a super idea.
As a teacher, I can't really get away with that though. But I will dig out my old peace sign earrings! Thanks for the great idea!
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Kutjara Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:49 PM
Response to Original message
11. Maudlin crap.
Over-sentimental, saccharine-sweet, hypocritical, self-serving, "look at me," right-wing maudlin crap.

No soldier in this world is currently fighting for my freedoms, and they haven't been since 1945.
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femmocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-11-08 10:56 PM
Response to Reply #11
12. I just want to scream at the inanity of it all.
Plus, that last line: "and try to face yourself in the mirror" ... that really made me, well... see RED!

Then they said, "fighting for our freedom"!!! AUURGHHH!!!!

Sadly, they are falling for it and indoctrinating the kids. :puke:
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Whoa_Nelly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-13-08 11:41 AM
Response to Original message
14. Have heard of it many times in recent years...and Snopes Sez
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jakefrep Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-13-08 11:51 AM
Response to Original message
15. Then wear blue!
This jingoistic bullshit needs to stop.
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MorningGlow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-13-08 01:20 PM
Response to Original message
16. A local business mandates it
I just read about it in the newspaper yesterday; on Saturdays there's a column on the editorial page, "Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down", and the business got a thumbs up for making all their employees wear those special red shirts on Fridays. I wanted to
:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

By the same token, I can't believe what a hard turn to the right our local paper has taken in the past year. It's incredible.
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ghostsofgiants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-13-08 01:29 PM
Response to Original message
17. Yeah, my university's library of all places does that.
Lame.
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