Alabama State Auditor Beth Chapman. Attached is a copy of Mrs. Chapman's
speech, which resulted in five standing ovations, tremendous applause and an
encore. It's a short read and well worth it.

I'm here tonight because men and women of the United States military have
given their lives for my freedom. I am not here tonight because Sheryl
Crowe, Rosie O'Donnell, Martin Sheen, George Clooney, Jane Fonda or Phil
Donahue, sacrificed their lives for me.

If my memory serves me correctly, it was not movie stars or musicians, but
the United States Military who fought on the shores of Iwo Jima, the jungles
of Vietnam, and the beaches of Normandy. Tonight, I say we should support
the President of the United States and the U.S. Military and tell the
liberal, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippy, tie-dyed liberals to go
make their movies and music and whine somewhere else.

After all, if they lived in Iraq, they wouldn't be allowed the freedom of
speech they're being given here today. Ironically, they would be put to
death at the hands of Sadam Husssein or Osama Bin Laden. I want to know how
the very people who are against war because of the loss of life, can
possibly be the same people who are for abortion? They are the same people
who are for animal rights but against the rights of the unborn. The movie
stars say they want to go to Iraq and serve as "human shields" for the
Iraqis. I say let them buy a one-way ticket and go.

No one likes war. I hate war! But the one thing I hate more is the fact that
this country has been forced into war-innocent people have lost their
lives - - and there but for the grace of God, it could have been my brother,
my husband, or even worse my own son.

On December 7, 1941, there are no records of movie stars treading the
blazing waters of Pearl Harbor.

On September 11, 2001; there are no photos of movie stars standing as "human
shields" against the debris and falling bodies ascending from the World
Trade Center. There were only policemen and firemen - -underpaid civil
servants who gave their all with nothing expected in return.

When the USS Cole was bombed, there were no movie stars guarding the
ship - - where were the human shields then?

If America's movie stars want to be human shields, let them shield the
gang-ridden streets of Los Angeles, or New York City, let them shield the
lives of the children of North Birmingham whose mothers lay them down to
sleep on the floor each night to shelter them from stray
bullets.

If they want to be human shields, I say let them shield the men and women of
honesty and integrity that epitomizes courage and embody the spirit of
freedom by wearing the proud uniforms of the United States Military. Those
are the people who have earned and deserve shielding!

Throughout the course of history, this country has remained free, not
because of movie stars and liberal activists, but because of brave men and
women who hated war too. However, they lay down their lives so that we all
may live in freedom. After all - "What greater love hath no man, that he lay
down his life for his friend," or in this case a country.

We should give our military honor and acknowledgement and not let their
lives be in vain. If you want to see true human shields, walk through
Arlington Cemetery. There lie human shields, heroes, and the BRAVE Americans
who didn't get on television and talk about being a human shield - they were
human shields.

I thank God tonight for freedom - - those who bought and paid for it with
their lives in the past - - those who will protect it in the present and
defend it in the future.

America has remained silent too long! God-fearing people have remained
silent too long! We must lift our voices united in a humble prayer to God
for guidance and the strength and courage to sustain us throughout whatever
the future may hold.

After the tragic events of Sept. 11th, my then eleven -year-old son said
terrorism is a war against them and us and if you're not one of us, then
you're one of them.

So in closing tonight, let us be of one accord, let us stand proud, and let
us be the human shields of prayer, encouragement and support for the
President, our troops and their families and our country.

May God bless America, the land of the free, the home of the brave and the
greatest country on the face of this earth!

A-men brother.

Blind patriotism is stupid.

Thumbs up at supporting the troops, but there are better, less divisive ways of doing it.

Equating speaking out against the war with not supporting our troops is ignorant.

Bravo!!!!

Thanks H2O. I agree with you completely, and I am getting tired of explaining and re-explaining my stance on things. It seems neither side listens to the other.

H20 and KurtF - If Iraq is such a great place under the power of Saddam maybe you 2 should move there...Like I have said before..We know very little of what the government has for info on iraq.. So forget thinking you all have the answer...Because you dont... Saddam is an evil man and supports terrorism in the U.S....Doesnt that matter? Or are you so far to the left your head is in the sand!!

Here, Here.

Marching in the streets, breaking the law, blocking traffic , demanding that people hear your point of view, yelling at anyone that opposes your point of view, acting like a bunch of crazy baboon's, calling it stand against the war and somehow equating it to standing behind our troops is IGNORANT!

I swear if I am around any punk that burns an American flag it's gonna get ugly real quick!!!!!


Never has this quote been more applicable!

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.
Euripides. 407 B.C

I must respond to: "Equating speaking out against the war with not supporting our troops is ignorant."

Thinking that publicly speaking out against the war is not endangering our troops is ignorant.

Make no mistake about it, when people publicly object to the war they are encouraging our enemies, discouraging our troops, and endangering our loved ones lives!!

As an ex-Marine with friends and comrades in Iraq, it is my right and duty to express my displeasure with anyone publicly objecting to the war. They have the right to speak out against the war, just as I have the right to tell them exactly how I feel about it!

Semper Fidelis

PMartin I'll get your back if that ever happens!!!

Timber - Intersting how you got all that out of our posts. Takes a real creative intelligence to come up with that kind of crap.

Its apparent that your emotions have got the better of you P....

"Marching in the streets, breaking the law, blocking traffic , demanding that people hear your point of view, yelling at anyone that opposes your point of view, acting like a bunch of crazy baboon's"...

I have done none of these things. Nor will I, I agree with you on that score. I have spoken out against American foreign policy, our 'President' and going to war. Does that make me a non-supporter of our troops?

Hell no! ....and I defy you to make an argument to the contrary. I have supported the troops on every possible level and at every opportunity.

The thing is, I believe that support is more than flag waving and bravado. Its action...

I've given blood twice now in hopes that I can somehow make a difference...I have friends that are currently on the front lines with whom I communicate and tell them how proud of them I am for doing their job. I've shut up about my opposition to the war while hostilities are ongoing...

But I am sick and bloody tired of flag waving yahoo's shouting me down because I don't agree with them or their continued efforts at pushing those that would disagree with them to the 'fringe'.

Pull the red, white and blue gauze from about your eyes, perhaps then you will be able to see that it is possible to BOTH disagree with American foreign policy AND support our troops. Suggesting that all who would do so are any less of an American or should volunteer to be human shields is pure unadulterated idiocy, the epitome of inflammatory. Wouldn't your efforts be better spent working to bridge the gap between those that do not support and those that do?

The Republican Senator from Alabama can kiss my lily white ass...and so can anyone who would argue that I do not support my friends and family in the services.

The enemy is in Iraq, gents.

We can disagree about the merits of this war without getting all hostile.

Timber Man that was uncalled for. Our country is great because we allow dissenting views.

KurtF and Stlhdh20 I would like to hear your reply to my post though....

Sadly Dan, an inumerable amount of recent war threads offer concrete proof that we can't.

Its important to note that this thread as posted is not about the merits of the war...

ET -

I scoffed at the patchouli wearin' hippies that held a 'vomit in' at the federal building...

Micheal Moore posesses a tremendously large pair for doing what he did the other night, but I have to disagree with his having done so. Bad form...I say these things as an example that it is possible to have a centrist view on these issues...

What is the average citizen that disagrees with the policies of his government to do?? Follow blindly??...or... Speak out? I do believe that was one of the very principles this country was founded on...see Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense'...

So we do, no matter which side of the fence we are on.

For me it ends when our troops are committed to battle. What would you say to the parents whose children are fighting the war that disagreed with the foreign policy that led us to this point? "You don't support your child because you spoke out against the war"?

Lastly....if not for the outcry of the public during the Vietnam era, that war, now widely regarded as a mistake, would have lasted much longer. It could be argued successfully that those protesters did more to save the lives of soldiers than their government ever did.

Saving soldier's lives...can't get much more patriotic/supportive than that.

I am not arguing that people should take to the streets and protest. I am arguing that it is possible to be supporting the troops in doing so.

Well, maybe "we" can't, but I can. Flinging poop just lowers one to being a poop-flinger.....not a very enviable position.

Insulting your fellow Americans is hardly a patriotic thing to do.

"For me it ends when our troops are committed to battle."

Thank you! Unfortunately some people(too many celebrities) believe that their right to protest is more important than our troops' lives. They are the truely ignorant.

Political disagreements have no place on the battlefield. Leave them for the next election!

Aunty -

I am not saying all patriotism is blind. Just the kind posted by Timber in this instance.

Opinion taken...

...and I agree. However, you also have several people on this board that choose to characterize those that disagree with them as unpatriotic or unsupportive of the troops.

As long as people continue that effort I will speak out against it. Its a falsehood that drives the two sides apart rather than together, and I firmly believe that in times of war the people on both sides of the issue need to (does best John Lennon impression) come together, right now.

I have consistently encouraged people to come to the center of the issue.

I like what the 11 year old kid said.
Now there is some deep wisdom.

It kind of reflects on many of us and on our willingness to use our brains. To summarize my case I ask you to go back and read the previous comments.

...or many of the other more passionate threads on the forums.

So Aunty, would I be correct in assuming that you've already delivered this same message to Timberman? After all it was he who initiated this thread. Wait, don't answer that. I'm pretty sure that I already know.

The war is warranted, and necessary. I'm curious what the "antis" will think when Iraq starts using the chemicals and biologicals they arent supposed to have?? I have not read one thing that convinces me that Saddam and his Gang are innocent of terriorist activities against the U.S., and humanity. The more the "antis" complain about the president, the war, and everything else, reminds me how lucky they are to be born here and not there.

How lucky "THEY" are......or how lucky "WE" are?

That's a beautiful thing, TM.....a beautiful thing.

Yes it is! Very beautiful... and big too.

think Aunty and the girls will like it?

I know "WE" do.

H20,

Why didn’t you paste the WHOLE sentence???

Your writings speak for themselves and you “calling it stand against the war and somehow equating it to standing behind our troops is IGNORANT!”

You may not have done everything in the sentence I wrote but YOU have definitely done the part you must somehow of forgotten. Funny how people like you never get all the facts!! Only the parts that concern, or in this case, don’t concern YOU!

You come to this room knowing full well the men and women the serve with pride read this. Yet, you must come in and post garbage??? If you say you truly stand behind out troops why not say so and leave it at that? Knowing that there are many Soldiers reading yours and other’s crap and knowing full well that sediment does nothing but bring down moral you must still get on the soap box? Why not go talk to Mike Web or email someone who cares about your yellow rantings and your thought’s?


The gauze is and has been out of my eyes brotha…. I know a two faced Lib when I see one!!

Oh ya, I already know your reply….. A bunch of crap followed by a couple of sentences of crap with a closing argument of crap. What’s it all equal??? A huge pile of crap.

Pretty much sums up everything you have said. Cause you have yet to have any plausible solutions. Just crap about everything everyone else writes about. So go ahead, tear me up, cause I support our troops while they are dying on the battle field. Yep, I must be blind and ignorant, right!

At least you got one thing right, I sure as hell am PATRIOTIC!!

good point! WE are lucky to have been born here. Since I actually back the government on this issue, I was refering to the fact that they (anti's/protestors/etc...) could lose their lives in other parts of the world for being so outspoken.... of course you knew the intent of the comment, you were just looking for an opportunity to chime in again, weren't ya. I am in total agreement with Aunty, its a shame that the military people that frequent our board have to be witness to this crap. It's really kind of emabrassing.... its the wrong place and time.

P Martin,

You can give it a rest now........it's obvious nobody here is really listening to anyone except themselves.

Dan, That's probably the best and most accurate statement in this whole thread!


I hear ya loud and clear.


Over and out!

You've got the wrong ...'iotic' there pal.

I didn't paste the whole sentence because the very last bit of it was so grammatically incorrect that it could be construed several different ways. Rather than go there I chose to challenge the hyperbole of your statement.

Your point, as dull as it is, is that anyone who has spoken out against the war does not support our soldiers. THAT IS PATENTLY FALSE!!

"For me it ends when our troops are committed to battle. What would you say to the parents whose children are fighting the war that disagreed with the foreign policy that led us to this point? "You don't support your child because you spoke out against the war"?"

Well...? What would you say to them? I suppose you would call them traitors and try to push them to the fringe as well?

..."if not for the outcry of the public during the Vietnam era, that war, now widely regarded as a mistake, would have lasted much longer. It could be argued successfully that those protesters did more to save the lives of soldiers than their government ever did. "

The government makes mistakes people, whether or not this decision is or isn't is neither here nor there until the fighting is over, this episode becomes history and the pundits of the future have a chance to sit down and Monday morning QB it.

What have you DONE to show your support? Given blood? Written letters to the troops? Watched TV?Or is posting blindly patriotic tripe the extent of your commitment to our men in uniform? Does merely having served constitute the entirety of your support? The truth is, I don't know, so it would be irresponsible of me to even attempt to characterize you, one way or the other. Much the same can be said of your poor effort at characterizing me...

My best friend from High school is over there. My coworkers are over there. Your characterization of me is so far off the mark as to be laughable. Try again, only this time use your brain instead of your heart.

(Edit: I would be cool with a moratorium on ALL political posting...but it would have to go both ways)

Tonight, I say we should support
the President of the United States and the U.S. Military and tell the
liberal, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippy, tie-dyed liberals to go
make their movies and music and whine somewhere else.

Just a friendly reminder! :p


God bless America and our brave troops!

TM-

Though the intent is usually to show extreme discontent for the U.S. government, I see flag burning as a symbol of our freedom. Those who burn the flag are unintentionally proving how great the U.S. is and how free we truly are. In places like China, Iraq, Iran, etc., a person would be shot before the flame goes out. I don't want our government mimicking the policies of such countries.
Who is hurt by a burning flag? Who's rights are being trampled on?

what f... you come to my town and burn a flag and it ain't about poltics you straight get you guts stomped and ya sounds redneck but were proud of our country and the boys protecting it.
we had some hippy teacher in class one day talkin about burnin flags and we scared him right out of there ( most teachers r kind of queer that way all talk no action)

I could not put it into words but I think this sums up my opinion.

Our rivers are back in for the most part, so everyone else must be thre already ... enough of these disintigrating war threads already.

I gotta stayed cooped in the house for another day or two here and I don't know what will drive me more nuts now that I'm up and reading some of this ... the threads or the pox!!

Please be civil, and if you can't ... drop it altogther. I AM grumpy right now ...

I agree on the politics. It is real obvious who stands where if you spend any time on this board when it comes to politics. I'm sure if we have a few more of these endless debates we won't change the minds that are always predictable and in their own minds, always right.

To all the fishermen who are over seas I say THANKYOU and hurry home.

I think for most of these protesters it's not about the war, it's about their hate for God and the President who is a confessed man of God.

I wouldn't be surprised if most of the protesters are Pro-choice supporters of the murder of babies.

Yeah and they probably like cats better than dogs......and I'll bet they trip up old ladies in crosswalks, and steal food from orphanages, too.

TM - you'd be proud of me yesterday. Got to fire up The Kid's Stihl chainsaw and hack apart a fallen tree, blocking the road, up on the SRSR! I kept yellin' "TIMBER MAN!!!" every time a 4' section of log would crash down on the ground! I asked The Kid if he knew how to wield that Stihl and after he started swingin' that Stihl around like a broadsword, I took it away from him and did the job myself!

Oh and by the way, if you're floating the SR, and you pass Dans Creek, go LEFT at the 5-6 trees/stumps/sweepers that are taking up the entire river! Going right would be bad.

4Salt - The Kid finally clued me in as to who you are (I had no idea). Now that I know, your posts crack me up even more! You'll have to come fishing with us one of these days.