Fuck the troops.

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the new Republican 2014 election strategy.....Fuck the Troops.

So for those of you not paying attention, earlier this week Bowe Bergdahl America's only POW in the Afganistan or Iraq war's was brought home.

Now you'd THINK this would be universally good news, but then your not a republican.

See Republicans think we should have left the guy behind.

Now they [usually] find other ways to say it, but thats basically their conclusion.

The American Military Pledge to "leave no man behind", well it turns out if doing that might make Obama look good, fuck the troops.

And well see Bergdahl is a killer. In fact 8 (or is it 6? or is it 32? the right wing cant seem to decide on the numbers) of troops were killed while trying to find him. Therefore he should take personal responsibility for their deaths, and that makes him unworthy of rescue, because he got american soldiers killed.

Which raises a question, where's the limit? soldiers die trying to rescue people ALL the time, so whats the cut off? Are you SOL when 1 soldier dies trying to find you? or is it 2? 3? 5? 7? How many until we decide, that even though you ARE a soldier, and one who might die trying to rescue someone else its not worth getting you back.

Oh and one other, fairly important point....according to official army records, none of those 8 solders died looking for Bergdahl. 2 were killed in a taliban attack on an american base, the remaining 6 killed a few months after the "intensive search measures" to find Bergdahl had wound down. 2 of those 6 died in a roadside bombing, another was shot durring an attempt to capture a Taliban operative, another when he had the bad luck to step on a mine, and 2 more during regular patrols.

Now I should point out to be fair, the families of the mine stepper and the two killed on patrol do believe their family members would not have been where they were when they died had bergdahl not been missing. So its not like the right wing entirely made the claim up, they just expanded and exploited the claim to try to make the president look bad.  

But hey, I mean its *OBAMA* why not slander the reputation of a solider to make Obama look bad? I mean why not make him look like a killer, I mean its not like he's anyone important, he's just a grunt. I mean fuck the troops, this killer should never have come home.....

Now look its one thing to object to the terms of the deal......although it should be noted most of them seem to have an alternative. The few that do, like Senator Ted Cruz, say we should have used military force to get this guy back, which is kinda weird, since that would result in more soldiers possibly dying, and we've kinda established that on the right anyway, if anyone could die to get you back, your not worth it.

Now the rest of the republicans who only object to the deal seem to follow Marsha Blackburns example:

For those who'd rather not click the link, her position is basically "I have no idea what deal I would have accepted. I dont have the information needed to make that decision.....however despite knowing nothing, and having no alternative I would not have done what the president did. Now the one thing I would have done is close a mainland american prison so that the Taliban cant come here....that was the question right? No? well lets try again....I dont know but I know Obama bad.....Of course I wouldnt have turned the deal down.....can we talk about Bengahzi? No....ok well what I would have exchanged for Bergdahl is ..shit...Bengahzi? can we PLEASE talk about Bengahzi?"


Now if the "I have no idea what I'd do, I just know what the president did was wrong, I have no alternative, can we change the subject?" defense sounds familiar, it should, its the same defense Republicans used for 5 years on Obamacare (still waiting on that "replacement plan" by the way)

But in all fairness to Blackburn and her ilk, she is at least willing to admit we absolutely should have brought the guy home, and is only upset about what we gave up.

So that puts her head and shoulders about most of the rest of her party.

Take Ralph Peters over on FOX news. See he believes Bowe Bergdahl is a deserter. Now of course Bergdahl is actually in good standing with the military. Now yes some people in his unit are claiming he deserted, and maybe he did.

Thing is, you need one thing to make someone a deserter....you need a defendant. We didnt have one because he was held by the Taliban. Now that he's back he can be tried for desertion and punished if found guilty. (it might also be worth mentioning that when he was captured Bowe Bergdahl was a Private First Class, he was promoted to Sergeant while in captivity. So presumably the Army doesnt [yet] believe he deserted, you tend not to promote deserters.)  

But thats not enough for Peters.  See heres what he had to say about the issue:

"Megyn, throughout much of our history we did go after deserters and when we got them we shot them or hanged them. Or if we were in a good mood, we would brand them with a “D” on their cheeks or forehead. When we became enlightened in the 20th century, we still shot some, but we always sent them to prison at hard labor."

No trial, just shoot him or hang him on sight, because people you know claimed he may have deserted. Fuck innocent until proven guilty. Fuck a right a trial. Fuck the troops fighting to give you those rights. Allegations of anything trump facts.

In fact this is actually a hardening of perspective on Peters part, in 2009, right after Bergdahl was captured, Peters said this:

"I want to be clear. If, when the facts are in, we find out that through some convoluted chain of events, he really was captured by the Taliban, I’m with him. But, if he walked away from his post and his buddies in wartime, I don’t care how hard it sounds, as far as I’m concerned, the Taliban can save us a lot of legal hassles and legal bills."
So in 2009, before the president got him back, we could allow for the possibility he MIGHT not be a deserter, but now that he's back, we are going to assume he was so we can attack the President for not killing him outright.

But hey in fairness, Ralph Peters has never been elected to anything, so maybe he's just one right wing nut.

NOPE.

Take Senator Kelly Ayotte.
On June 2nd, following Bergdahls release she issued this statement:

“With 29 percent of former Guantanamo detainees having reengaged or being suspected of reengaging in terrorism, the administration’s decision to release these five terrorist detainees endangers U.S. national security interests, It also sets a precedent that could encourage our enemies to capture more Americans in order to gain concessions from our government.”

Ok, so three things,

1) if we follow this logic, we dont get Bergdahl back....so her message is, in the name of national security, we basically say "fuck you, you got captured" and we leave him behind.
2) 29% recidivism rate. Alright in fairness this means 1 of those 5 guys we traded for Bergdahl will go back. Thing is, recidivism rate from US prisons is 40%....and we let those people out ALL the time, with I assume Mrs/ Ayotte's tacit agreement at doing it.

Side note by the way, the reason we have that 29% figure is because we've been tracking the 500+ guys let out of Gitmo by the last president, Guess it wasnt a problem letting people out of Gitmo before......I guess its only a problem when you need something to exploit and that happens to be convenient.....

And now thing #3)
"This Memorial Day, we also remember the men and women of our armed forces who are currently serving in harm's way. We thank them for their service and pray for their safety. We also must continue to keep Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who has been held prisoner by the Taliban for nearly five years, in our thoughts and prayers - and I renew my call on the Defense Department to redouble its efforts to find Sergeant Bergdahl and return him safely to his family."

Thats a statement by Senator Kelly Ayotte on May 24th....just a week before her other statement, basically asking Obama to do EXACTLY what he did.

Furthermore, heres part of press release from May 22nd from Ms. Ayotte's office talking about an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill she got passed.
"Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl: As part of ongoing efforts to urge the Department of Defense to do all it can to find Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl and bring him home safely, Senator Ayotte worked successfully to include a provision in the bill that presses Pakistan to fully cooperate in the search for SGT Bergdahl."

So yea, to sum up, she literally passed legislation to try to find this guy....and was apparently all for bringing him home any way possible....until it actually happened at which point, fuck this guy.

I mean there is only one conclusion here: Fuck the troops. She clearly was just exploiting this guy to make her self look good, and is now PISSED Obama didnt realize that, and brought the guy home.....by doing exactly what George W Bush did to boot.

And its not just Senator Ayotte.  Check out Senator John McCain, himself a former POW:.
This week John McCain said this, when asked about the deal:
“I would not have made this deal. I would have done everything in my power to repatriate him and I would have done everything I possibly could. But I would not have put the lives of American servicemen at risk in the future,”

So yea, again two points
1) Ok, so you dont want to put the lives of american servicemen at risk? Ok, so how would you have gotten the guy back? You just ruled out military action...and since swaps apparently involve putting servicemen at risk those are out too. So you would have what? just asked really really really really nicely and hoped the Taliban would have given Bergdahl to you for nothing?

And now, the much more damning thing #2)
This is John McCain being interviewed by Anderson Cooper in February.

"COOPER: Would you oppose the idea of some form of negotiations or prisoner exchange? I know back in 2012 you called the idea of even negotiating with the Taliban bizarre, highly questionable.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, at that time the proposal was that they would release -- Taliban, some of them really hard-core, particularly five really hard-core Taliban leaders, as a confidence- building measure. Now this idea is for an exchange of prisoners for our American fighting man.

I would be inclined to support such a thing depending on a lot of the details"

So yea, thats John McCain literally suggesting the President take the same deal he took.

Oh by the way, you know how congress (including some democrats like Senator Feinstien) are now claiming they didnt know anything about this in advance. Well seems John McCain knew all about it......I guess the rest couldnt be bothered to pay attention.

But yea, so there you have John McCain of all people, saying this is EXACTLY what we need to do to get this guy home.....and now getting pissed that we did it because doing it is bad for the military.

So again the only conclusion here is Fuck the trooops. Apparently Republicans are willing to endorse ideas that are bad for you, then attack those ideas to make it look like they support you because it makes them look better but they dont give a shit about you. Or alternatively, Republicans are willing to attack ideas that would actually bring you home, because it no longer gives them a way to look good by demanding you come home. Either way "Fuck the troops"

Oh and its not just Ayotte or McCain, they just happen to be the most egregious examples.

There is Representative Mark Amodei who had this on his twitter wall for about 15 hours before he had it deleted

 

Rep Lee Terry who had this on his website for a bit:

"A grateful nation welcomes the news of the return of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. I have the pleasure of regularly speaking with our nation's active duty military and veterans and I know that there is nothing more solemn than the pledge to never leave one of their own behind on the field of battle.

"Sgt. Bergdahl is a national hero. It's my hope that once he ultimately retires from active duty service, implementation of reforms to our nation's VA hospitals are made so that he will have access to the long-term care he has rightfully earned from the horrors he endured.

"Furthermore, I call upon President Obama to reach out to the Mexican government to secure the release of Sgt. Tahmooressi who himself has been held captive and abused in a Mexican prison for inadvertently crossing the Mexican border with firearms that he legally owned in the United States. If the President can negotiate with a group who has harbored terrorists and declared war on the United States for the last twelve years, I would expect he can work with our neighbor and trading partner to secure the immediate release and safe return of Sgt. Tahmooressi."

Now if you check his website it looks like this:

 

Senator Thad Cochran, who had this on his twitter wall....right up until it was announced he was headed for a run off election with his primary challenge:

And my personal "favorite" Republican US senate candidate in Iowa Joni Ernst

25 Minutes....thats how long that one was up before it was deleted.

Now to be fair, I dont blame any of the above for what they did. It wasnt their fault. See they were rushing to pretend they give a fuck about the troops, same as they have always been trained to do. They didnt realize the new republican message is "Fuck the troops", and they got caught unawares. They didnt realize that this time they are supposed to exploit the situation to make Obama look bad, not exploit the situation to make themselves look good.

Oh and the worst example of fuck the troops is yet to come.

For that we have to turn to Allen West, former Republican member of congress.

Now Allen West is kind of an expert on POW's...by which I mean Allen West was discharged from the military after assaulting a POW.So yea, clearly Allen West doesnt have much respect for POW's. What wasnt known until now his disdain covers anyone whos been captured on both sides.

See here's Allen West's response to Bregdahl coming home as posted on his website:

"This morning on WMALs “Morning on the Mall” radio show with hosts Brian and Larry I was asked a simple question relating to the Taliban prisoner release and impeachment of the president. I responded yes that in this current case, the U.S. House of Representatives should file articles of impeachment."

So yea, according to Allen West, bringing the troops home = Impeachment. Because its not like the President is the Commander in Chief or anything.....

Fuck the troops we should have just left that SOB to rot.

Now look to be fair I should give Allen West's stated load of Bullshit

"President Obama used an Article 2 signing statement to deem unconstitutional a measure HE had signed into law contained in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The law stated that he must advise Congress within 30 days about any plans to transfer detainees from GITMO. Obama basically stated that this was “unconstitutional” and that his unilateral action fell within his purview. Once again Obama used selective discretion as to what law he feels he must adhere to — in this case it has severe ramifications for our national security."
So yea Obama didnt enforce the law by notifying congress....except John McCain who seemed to know all about it back in February....which I'm pretty sure was more than 30 days ago.

And of course he ends by claiming the presidents justification that we leave no troops behind is insincere...oh and Bengahzi.

"To hear Obama state that “no American should be left behind” — has he forgotten about Benghazi and Marine SGT Tahmooressi? How about leaving behind American veterans to die?"

Now of course we actually DID recover and return the bodies of those killed in Bengahzi, so by the usual definition we DIDNT leave anyone behind, but hey seeing as how we are already willing to exploit 1 living POW, and 6 dead soldiers who happened to die near the time he went missing, why not slander 4 more by claiming they didnt come home.  I mean hell if your going to go with a strategy of "Fuck the troops" you got to go all out and fully commit to exploiting all troops every where. So thumbs up to Allen West for his level of commitment.

Oh one last final thing, but for this we leave the world of elected republicans and return to FOX: On Fox and Friends the other morning, Host Brian Kilmeade said this about Bergdahl:

"Can you imagine if it turns out that he was actually collaborating, all that time,that would even make it worse"

Now is there any evidence Bergdahl was collaborating, even if the desertion claims about him are true? NOPE. But hey FUCK THE TROOPS FUCK THEM IF THEY GOT CAPTURED THEY ARE TRAITORS FUCK THEM FUCK THEM FUCK THEM.

Sorry, my inner FOX news host got out there for a second....

Oh and Bowe Bergdahl isnt the only Bergdahl FOX is attacking. Because hey, why ONLY limit your self to attacking out military when you can pick on their families as well

See his father is a terrorist according to FOX news. now yes, the aforementioned Brian Kilmeade seems to have gotten the most attention, but he's far from the only one, as Media Matters points out

So yea.....Fuck the Troops, Fuck their families, and Fuck anyone with a beard.

Now as I leave you, I will present the top 10 members of the Taliban in America as according to Fox new's standards (excluding Duck Dynasty because its been done to death)

#10-8:

WWE's The Wyatt Family. A 3 man Taliban Cell.

#7 

John Lennon. technically British, but an American Icon...and Taliban leader.

#6-5

ZZZZ Top....more Taliban infiltrators pretending to be Musicians

#4

WWE champion Daniel Bryan...note the pro Taliban Shirt.

#3

Our 19th President, and early member of the American Taliban

#2

With a beard like that, of course this motherfucker is Taliban...if ever seen in your home KILL HIM

And Last, but not least, the Leader of the American Taliban by FOX new's standards, #1

This guy is actually middle eastern...OF COURSE HE'S TALIBAN!

So yea, there you have it folks. FOX new's Taliban top 10.

Now remember folks, if you serve in the military, please try your best to be captured (or at least released) when their is a republican in office, otherwise Fuck you, and your family you traitor.

Hey GOP, with a message like this, good luck in 2014....your going to need it.