What I recieved on Memorial Day.

I received a Memorial Day e-mail message from my Senator. her message shown here in italics is mixed with my comments in normal type.

honoring their sacrifice:
On this Memorial Day, I want to extend a most heartfelt thanks to the brave men and women who have served, and continue to serve, in our Armed Forces.
If you want to thank them then do all you can to bring them home. You would not thank someone by pushing them under a bus, nor would you thank them by sending them off to war.

When they chose to step forward and answer the call of duty and protect our nation,
If it is to protect our nation, what are they doing on the other side of the planet stirring up antagonisms against our nation?

 they and their families sacrificed everything. We should all be thankful for what they do and what they have done.
Why should we be thankful for those who act to destroy countless lives of poor people in countries on the other side of the planet. I don't buy the lies about nation building. If nations are built in a way that benefits their people, this happened in spite of not because of the soldiers we send.

As you may have heard, last week, an Army National Guard unit from Michigan, the 1-126 Calvary of Dowagiac, was hit with two roadside bombs while on patrol in Afghanistan. Ten soldiers were injured, one severely, but thanks to the unit’s courage and selfless heroism, no one was killed.
I have sympathies for anyone wounded in violence, even those who provoke it with their own violence. How many of these 10 were just out of high school?  How were they conned into that racket you call war? And how does becoming fodder for a roadside bomb constitute selfless heroism?

 We have many other Michigan service members who are recovering from the wounds they received while fighting for our country, and my thoughts and prayers go out to them and their families.
I would pray also for their victims.

This is the first Memorial Day in almost a decade that we have not had troops in Iraq.
You have other names for them, advisers and security contractors.

As we continue to bring our soldiers home from Afghanistan, it’s absolutely essential that we honor our commitment to provide them with the very best care and support available.
I have worked in homeless shelters and I know what this country does with its soldiers when it's done with them.

They’ve fought for us, and we need to keep fighting for them
They don't fight for me, I only give them the respect that any human deserves. That includes enough respect to tell them honestly that they are wasting their lives destroying other people lives

For those of you fortunate enough to spend this holiday with your family, I hope you’ll find a quiet moment to remember the troops who've made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our way of life.
What is this “way of life” you wish to protect? Certainly it is not our democracy this war and the tendency towards total war only erodes our democracy. Perhaps it's our addiction to oil. Why would we wish to protect a way of life that is destroying the planet? By “way of life” do you mean that urged to have power and dominate others? Are you perhaps talking about the “way of life” of the power elite and the super-rich?

To our men and women in harm’s way, our prayers are with you. Come home soon, and come home safely.
Asking them nicely will not work to bring them home, you know that. You at least could make a reasonable request to the commander-in-chief, but asking him nicely it's not likely to work either.

Sincerely,

Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator 
Sincerely, we should be outraged at the work of the US military.  "Yankees go home"