They're ramping up the "Liberals Hate the Troops" meme

[maxrandb]

Not that they ever stopped, but I saw this on another web-site. It apparently is a memo released by AT/FP folks concerning military members being verbally assaulted on the Metro in DC. If folks are doing this, they need to cut the crap. Blame the folks that are abusing and using our military, not the folks who have volunteered to defend this country.

They'll turn this into the "Spitting of the Troops" crap quicker than you can say "Dildo-Head"

"Military Members Verbally Assaulted on the Metro, VA Category: Awareness

Recently, there have been local incidents in which military personnel have been verbally assaulted while commuting on the Metro. Uniformed members have been approached by individuals expressing themselves as anti-government, shouting anti-war sentiments, and using racial slurs against minorities. In one instance, a member was followed onto the platform by an individual who continued to berate her as she exited the metro station.

Thus far, these incidents have occurred in the vicinity of the Reagan National Airport and Eisenhower Ave metrostations on the yellow line, however, military members should be vigilant and aware of their surroundings at all times while in masstransit. Should you be approached by any individuals expressing anti-government/anti-war sentiments, or any other types of direct verbal assault, immediately notify your local police jurisdiction. If riding metro, exit the train at the next stop, distance yourself from the individual, and notify the Metro Transit Police Department.

Here are a few friendly reminders of personal protective measures that can help youto stay safe: If possible, do not commute in uniform (military members.) Do not display DoD building passes, "hot cards", or personal identification in open view outside of the workplace. Do not discuss specifics about your occupation to outside solicitors. Always try to remain in well lit, well populated train cars if traveling via metro. MDNG FPTAC Note: There have been only two reported incidents to the Metro Transit Police Department. Both appeared to be random in nature. As warm weather approaches, anti-US policy activists are more likely to be active throughout the National Capital Region. This does not appear to be an organized campaign; however, personnel within the National Capital Region should be aware of proper AT/FP measures."

[EFerrari]

1. How many peaceniks do you know that would assault someone

or toss around racial slurs? I don't know any.

[maxrandb]

6. Neither do I

and I'm in the military.

The only time I ever had an incident was when some "wingnut" lady saw me in uniform and assumed I must "just love this President and the Repubs to death".

I explained to her that I was a liberal and a Democrat. I think all I did was ruin her lunch.

[EFerrari]

15. LOL! Well, she asked for it.

:)

[annabanana]

2. FALSE FUCKING FLAG CRAP

I defy ANYONE to substantiate these alledged attacks... If anyone is actually doing this I can practically guarantee that they would be exposed as provocateurs determined to turn this crap into "common perspective". .

[Echo In Light]

3. I'm 110% against any militarization, but verbally assailing soldiers isn't accomplishing anything

A lot of the trouble here is how many simply don't buy the idea of "defending the country," and instead perceive these soldiers/contractors - since there are so many of them - as being invaders/occupiers, doing the bidding of a corporate/state nexus that only uses "patriotism" and "liberty" in propagandistic terms, since their actions are the exact opposite of their rhetoric.

[Breeze54]

9. Believing everything you read isn't good either.

:eyes:

My guess; one drunk on subway at night got in someone's face and they argued.

Fake Story reads: "Many military being assaulted on subway!

[Echo In Light]

14. Irrespective of whether or not this is actually happening there, the point is relevant

Many on the left, myself included, have espoused negative views on the actions, choices and motives of soldiers/contractors, and this is easily spun into they HATE soldiers/America, etc when that isn't the point at all.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. You are correct

Stories like this, whether true or not, only serve to inspire ignorant war mongering fools to assault peace activists. I have seen it time and time again. One of the main reasons I despise Michelle Malkin is she promotes this kind of crap on her website and actually encourages her fans to stalk the peace community and report back to her to relate their 'encounters' with the 'dirty hippie' peace activists.

Melanie Morgan out of SF has rented a bus more than once to go across the country and pick up 'patriots' to go to DC and confront those of us there for national events like marches and lobbying campaigns.

These people are truly sick and have a proven record of violence. They beat up a Gold Star Dad last year. They make death threats against high profile activists.

So no it doesn't matter if these stories are true. The point is to incite and they don't need the truth to do that.

[jtrockville]

4. People on the metro (aka "subway" for non-locals) don't even

make EYE contact with anyone. It's an unwritten rule but very strictly followed. I find this report terribly hard to believe.

[annabanana]

5. If it sounds like bs

Chances are pretty damn good it IS bs . . .

[maxrandb]

12. I agree

I also think that the "spitting on the troops" when they came home from Vietnam was crap.

It's now an "accepted" meme, used to attack anyone that questions what the CinC does.

That's the only reason I posted this.

I don't want to hear for another 50 years how the troops returning from Iraq were "spit on" and "beaten"

IMHO - If you want to know why I think the Repubs have been successful at the ballot box in the past, it's because they and the media have defined the Democratic Party by the extremes

[Breeze54]

13. Got a Link? - AT/FP = Antiterrorism & Force Protection?

[Jim__]

7. McCain hates the troops

Spread that meme:

"John McCain voted against veterans in 2004, '05, '06 and '07," says Jeffrey David Cox, who spent twenty-two years as a VA nurse before moving to the American Federation of Government Employees, where he serves as secretary-treasurer (AFGE represents employees of several federal agencies, including the VA). Cox is right. Under Bush, McCain has voted for measures that target so-called Priority-7 and Priority-8 veterans (those whose injuries are not service-related and whose incomes are above a low minimum threshold) for annual fees, higher co-pays and even suspended enrollment. Priority-7 veterans without dependents earn more than $24,644 annually. Priority-8 veterans without dependents earn an annual minimum of $27,790.

Cox and AFGE are also concerned about McCain's pet plan to issue all veterans a "plastic card," which they could take "to the doctor or the provider of their choice and...get the treatment they need."

"We should give them freedom to choose to carry their VA dollars to a provider that gives them the timely care at high quality and in the best location," McCain has said. AFGE sees it as a backdoor attempt to undermine, or even destroy, the VA. According to Phillip Longman, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and an expert on the VA, such ideas aren't always inappropriate (disclosure: in 2006 I worked at NAF, where I provided research assistance to Longman and others). Private services, he says, can in some cases be essential to veterans in underserved communities. "But his idea shows just how uninformed is about veterans and the VA. Veterans who are already in the system don't want to get out," Longman says. "Every veteran who moves from the VA system into the private system will find it more dangerous and more costly." And there are additional concerns. AFGE points to incidents like the ones in Hayward and Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Last summer veterans facilities in those cities outsourced the operation of their clinics to a private firm, Corporate Health & Wellness. Within a few months the company, citing major financial losses, jumped ship, leaving veterans in search of care locked out for weeks.

Cox adds that the privatization of other, nontreatment services--laundry and janitorial, for instance--aren't without costs of their own. Approximately 80 percent of VA jobs--and therefore an enormous percentage of the jobs that are outsourced to private firms--are (or were) held by veterans themselves.

More ...

[Breeze54]

8. yeah... Riiiigggghhhhttt.....

:eyes:

[Virginia Dare]

10. Sorry, but I just don't believe it ever happened..

pure fairy tale. If it happened it was just some punk kids who were drunk or something, entirely isolated.

Don't wear your DOD i.d. on Metro? You can't spit without hitting a DOD'er on the Yellow/Blue line. They outnumber everybody else by far.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Link?

Is this from the Gathering of Eagles assholes? They love to spread this bullshit around. And they are the group that beat up a Gold Star Dad in September in DC.

I would really appreciate knowing where you got this story. I need send it out to my peace activist contacts across the country and especially to our people in DC. This means the war mongers may be planning violence, as that is their pattern. First they excite their people with false stories like this and then they assault peace activists.

So please - a link would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

[maxrandb]

16. Don't have a link, but this is apparently what the TSA said when contacted

"The information contained within the article entitled; Verbal assaults directed at uniformed personnel, was not originated by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as implied. Although after becoming aware of the message; the FTA forwarded the report to the Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD); the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Operations Center (NOC) and other appropriate authorities in order to ensure that they were aware of the allegations within the report; the U.S. Army actually generated the report. That said; I’ve been advised by officials of the MTPD that an incident did occur recently whereby a person in full military uniform was verbally harassed by an unknown individual. The MTPD is well aware of the incident and is giving the matter on-going special attention. The police further point out that the military person was not harmed. Moreover; the incident appears to have been at random and there’s no indication that this type of harassment toward military personnel using the Metro system is on-going. "

It appears that what we have here, is some Army person filed a complaint, the Army sent out a "be aware" type notice.

It's crap, I think it's crap, but I also want to be able to prove that it's crap!

[Echo In Light]

18. So this stemmed from the army?

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. You need to have a link

or it's definitely crap.

My concern, though, is that this incites the war mongers who do indeed assault peace activists all over the country. I would like to send this out as a warning. I am not concerned if the content is true or not; the mere existence of this story means peace activists are at risk.

So please, PM me if you find any links to this story. It would be really helpful to know where it originated.

Where did you hear about this?

[maxrandb]

22. Heard about it at

www.military.com

BTW - We need much more involvement at that site from Democrats, Liberals and Progressives. There are quite a few who push back on some "wingnut" idiocy that is posted there.

It's quite refreshing to know that not all folks in uniform are "knuckle-dragging, Faux Listening, Dildo-Heads".

Anyway, someone posted it there.

It sounded like crap to me, but I want to make sure that we don't allow this "Dems Hate the Troop" talking point to gain any traction.

Look, Repukes have been successful because they've been able to scream "Liberal Media" anytime a bad story comes out about them, and "Libs hate the military" anytime they're questioned about the actions of this President.

They don't have to answer the tough questions, because they bruch them aside as "liberal bias", or "support the troops".

That's why the only links I can find for this are from places like military.com, sayanything.com, Malkin's wingnut site, and some radio station blog site.

I want to stress that I'm not saying this is happening, but I want to make sure that we stomp these meme's before they grow legs.

Next thing you know, it becomes an accepted fact of American history, like "Repubs are the Party of Fiscal Responsibility", "Repubs are the Party of Family Values", or "Vietnam Troops were spit on and harrassed when they came home".

We ignore shit like this at our peril.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. I found it a RW blog

Thanks so much for posting this. It is important to note what they are saying, whether it is true or not.

[fascisthunter]

17. Actually They Act as If They Hate the Troops

by putting them in unwinnable situations that are unjustifiable and only profit a small powerful wealthy elite that could care less about the welfare or prosperity of America as a whole.

If they want to play this game, I say bring it on, because I plan on calling them traitors, liars and cowardly theives.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Found it!

http://radiovice.blogspot.com/2008/05/unclassifiedfouoles-daily-anti.html

Some idiot with a radio show in CT.

James Vicevich

Anyone out there know him? His blog says he is a libertarian and it looks like he is a Larry Elder fan.

[EstimatedProphet]

25. What a scumbucket!

His blog is nothing more than masturbating to Repub talking points.

[T Monk]

23. those are fighting words and the response should be genuine anger