Oh Boy: "We need not thank the troops for every breath we take."

I'm not sure about publishing this on Veteran's Day here in the U.S.A., but Salon posts Justin Doolittle's provocative look at professional sports regularly holding military appreciation events. The PGA Tour--where make military appreciation is nearly a weekly component of their nearly weekly wraparound schedule--goes unmentioned in Doolittle's look at how major sports leagues celebrate the military. Sorry Camp PV!

Anyway, Doolittle makes the point that thanking our troops at sporting events "for every breath we take" reduces "our entire existence as free people to something that only exists at the whim of the U.S. military, and suffocate critical thought about the military and what it’s actually doing in the world."

Doolittle takes less offense at the ceremonies and is bothered more by the sometimes absurd comments of commentators, who pile on after otherwise nice tributes.

There's also this, which ought to liven up the discussion:

The combination of unanimous, entirely uncritical appreciation for the military, and the irrational belief that we owe gratitude to the troops for virtually everything we cherish in life, up to and including freedom itself, is very dangerous for our intellectual culture. It stifles any potential for rational, coherent discussion on these matters. It makes us, free citizens of a constitutional society, meek and excessively obeisant.

Uh, right, big word alert. Here's the definition. Go on...

During the World Series games, under the hashtag “TroopThanks,” Americans tweeted their appreciation for the troops. One such tweet thanked the troops for allowing us to “live free.” Another offered a stern “reminder” that we are only able to enjoy the World Series “because of those who protect our freedoms every day.” This is, of course, preposterous, but it is hardly a fringe belief. It reflects many decades of highly effective propaganda that has convinced generations of people that there is virtually nothing for which we should not thank the troops.