Don't give me any of your whiney "as a veteran" bull----. You have zero status as a veteran with most of america. The Rove military worshipping robot mentality has worn a little thin by now.

Did you participate in a great crusade for something good or were you a pawn in a vicious slaugher carried out by israeli spies in the pentagon and white house? Only history will tell, but i'm not leaning your way at the moment.

Only morons would slavishly laud a broad category of people. I want to know the facts. Did you shoot any of those mfers that were torturing people? Did you kill any civilians?

Are you braver than a skinny little 97 lb. 14 year old iraki who hunts tanks with an rpg-29?

I'll pass on the personal judgments, and just make the observation that we as a people have disgraced our country in irak, and that god will deal with you.

If you are a war criminal (which i hope you are not) then you will not escape.

This person has a LOT of status with MOST of America, he served his country. He is simply asking for us to exercise our right to vote.

Yes, that right can be taken for granted in Utah. I know that for sure as a teacher as I have 2 candidates in my area who are very anti-education and care little for serving the people, but plenty for serving the special interest groups.

Yes, the voucher groups and their blatant efforts against schools, teachers, and education get me worked up, but I get MORE worked up when someone posts something like this against veterans, stay-at-home moms, or boy scouts.

This is no "whiny" veteran. He is a genuine hero who has served his country when he was asked to and who has tried to fight for our freedoms and others. Rather than scorn, we should be thanking him and I will.

This comment is a disgrace to the country and those who serve it. I wonder if the same person can tell my student that his uncle wasn't brave. Maybe you can tell that to the American Legion people who come to my class every year who fought in World War II, the Korean War, etc. that they aren't brave. These veterans put on a first class program last year and there was nothing finer than seeing my students rise to attention with their hands over their hearts while listening to John Wayne's Pledge of Allgiance tape. Tell that to thousands of kids whose dads serve their country in some of the most forlorn places around, yet who try to make the place they are in a better place.

To paraphrase a line "only mormons would Only morons would slavishly defame a broad category of people."

And before someone asks it, NO I did not serve. I wouldn't last an hour in Iraq. That's why I VERY much support the troops. They do the job that I am not able to/willing to do.

If the veteran who made this statement reads this, respond to this. I would love to have you come to my class to publicly thank you for doing your job. In fact, I think this gives us all the more reason to send letters to troops overseas.
The person here seems really "brave" making statements like that in a public forum. I wonder what would happen if he or she were sent to Iraq.

I despise some who want to take a cut and run approach to education--putting political agendas above working for real solutions. But I also HATE comments like this that are cut and run as well, not helping out a situation, and actually hindering it.

My gosh, the guy was simply asking us to exercise our right to vote--what is WRONG with that????

But then this has a good effect as well. This post will inspire me to make even closer contacts with veterans. One thing I get very worried about is who will take up the heritage in my area. I will PERSONALLY work to make sure that the kids in my area remember what our veterans have done for us. The same guy has done EVERY Memorial Day ceremony in my area for 40 YEARS. Who will carry this on when he can't? The VFA vets are getting older, but we MUST remember what they have done for us. I will not let that go away, as it seems like some people like the person above have. We must NEVER forget.

This country doesn't need any more of this partisan bickering and self-serving poltical agendas, politicing, and such. What we need are people working together to make our communities and schools strong, helping each other out, and in the process making our nation strong.

The first step in doing that is to vote.

The ironic thing in all this is that Catherman seems to have views more along the Democratic line than the Republican side.

And really I don't care what his views are, Catherman seems to be a sincere individual who loves his country. For that, he should be commended, not castigated.

Bryan thanks for your efforts and your service. When I am calling people to get out the vote, I give them my stands then I tell them to vote, no matter who they're voting for. I appreciate your writing on Utah Politics, I think there is a future for you in politics. ;-)

That is a wonderful comment Pete. I appreciated Bryan's comments quite a bit. He does have a future I think too. There are indeed good people out there who rise above any party. I respect them a lot. I respect any individual who has served our country honorably. They deserve our highest praise and respect.

There are places in the world where bloodlines and dynasties still dictate national leadership

The above quotes is what The Pres and so many others do fail to realize. I was married to a man who came from a war torn nation whose father held great power and it came here to Utah with him. I was young at the time failed to undestand it until I was older and divorced from the man.

If we do not teach this in history our to our soldiers, my son is now a Vet with the Utah National Gaurd, then we are doomed to having more Iraqs more Vietnams. We think the entire world would love our system of govt of how people work their way up the ranks. This simply does not exist and may never exist in many nations on the planet.
Family lineage rules with an iron fist on many parts of the world.

We are not doing a good job teaching history and not just our own involvment in history but the worlds and world cultures. We are now a gloabl economy and we are failing to learn the other cultuers of the world.

I spent time living in Canada and even their system is not different from ours.

They have senators that are not elected but appointed for life. They have in essence two leaders one whom is not voted in, the Governor General who represent the Queen's interests in Canada and how is the commander of the military not the Prime Minster.