Now, I wouldn't have questioned the intentions of this woman, and I would have held her in esteem, except that she made it clear she thought military personnel were somehow superior in character to the rest of us lowly civilians. So here's my rant: military people SUCK.

Who do these people think they are, and why do they think they're somehow more virtuous that the rest of us? This military woman was ranting about how we shouldn't disrespect personnel because they "defend us" and are willing to "lay down their lives for us." I'm reading another rant from a military person who thinks that he should get the Fourth of July off work when his co-workers can't because he's in the military.

If I wasn't here at home working my ass off to keep the economy running, the sainted military wouldn't have anyone to defend. And defend us from WHAT? I don't see anyone invading. If there were, *I'd* be out there with a weapon defending us, too. If there were a real war to fight, I'd be joining up. I didn't ask anyone else to defend me. She *chose* to be in the military, just like I chose to do my job. Her job doesn't make her more worthy of esteem than the rest of us. Now the people who died in all the wars up until the Vietnam war? *Those* people deserve my esteem--they were drafted. Many of them didn't want to be there, or chose to be there because their conscience told them that the war they were in was worth fighting for.

And since when is the Fourth of July a military holiday? Hell, we have Memorial Day and Veteran's Day to celebrate the people who've made the ultimate sacrifice. Us lowly civilians should get at least one patriotic pro-American holiday, shouldn't we? Independence Day is about celebrating *independence* which should be something that belongs to all of us.