My second opinion article.

Okay, apparently the Flyer News website still hasn't changed.

So here's my latest opinion article. It came out not too long ago, Thursday I think, and I've heard good things from some people already.

Always makes me feel special to know other people hold crazy opinions.

Enjoy.



“Support Our Troops” bumper magnets are meaningless feel-good gestures

Every time I get out and drive somewhere – which is not very often – I am always surprised by the number of yellow ribbon-shaped “Support Our Troops” bumper magnets I see.

Old beat-up trucks, new European cars, American minivans: all of them remind me to support our troops. They are often accompanied by their flag-colored cousins which say, I don’t know, “God Bless America” or something.

I have a few questions about that little command, “Support Our Troops,” but I’ve never been able to ask someone. I’m not bold enough to roll my window down at Stewart and Edwin C. Moses, I guess.

How, for example, should I support our troops? I pay taxes, and a healthy portion – or an unhealthy portion – of those go to the armed forces. Does that count?

Or should I volunteer? Is that what they want? Is it possible that every bearer of a “SOT” bumper sticker is a member of the Army Reserves or an armed forces recruiter?

No, that is not possible. If they were, those people would be guarding checkpoints in Iraq, not cruising down 75 North with their left turn signals terminally blinking.

So, please, what does “Support Our Troops” mean? How are they supporting our troops more than I am? What’s their secret?

Is it possible that the magnets don’t mean anything? Is it possible that, in a rush of post-9/11 patriotism, those people bought and applied a bumper magnet without considering that doing so does not, in fact, support our troops?

Of course, the magnets aren’t the real problem. I understand that all bumper stickers are essentially pointless self-serving phrases.

The difference between “Support Our Troops” and, say, “Meat Is Murder” is that one recommends a specific course of action – stop eating meat – and the other suggests a sort of bland thumbs-up nationalism with no actual action required.

I recognize that I have a bias here. I won’t tread lightly around it: I don’t care to support our troops at all. I just don’t think they’re as useful as social welfare programs or good public education.

Maybe that’s why I’m bewildered about the “SOT” magnets. I’ve never heard my conservative or patriotic friends complain that these magnets express an empty sentiment without requiring any real commitment.

In the “9/11 Never Forget” world, where flag-flying is the new national pastime, it seems blatantly obvious that these magnets just don’t do anything. I could convey a similar message with a bumper sticker that says something like “Hooray Peanut Butter!” or “I like socks.”

The people who display these magnets aren’t supporting our troops any more than I am. They’re just supporting a faceless corporation that manufactures bumper magnets.

And worse than the owners of other bumper stickers, they aren’t supporting a cause, either. They haven’t convinced me or anyone else to support our troops because there is nothing you can do to support our troops.

Please, if you want to make a political statement, go ahead. If you’re proud we invaded Iraq, or you hope we win the war, or you want us to invade North Korea and Iran, just say so. I’d like to see that.

But don’t send me the message that you don’t have a message. Don’t make a bland statement that just demonstrates that you hold vague patriotic beliefs.