[pct-l] OT: Donna's "Sigh" and the 1st Amendment

[Trekker4 at aol.com]

    Been off the Inet, basically for two months: the only dial-up ISP in this 
remote area lied about problems, but was really broke; finally going DSL, for 
the same money, is like getting power locks, windows, cruise control, and a 
remote key for one's vehicle. One will never go back. I was also working in a 
very remote area on a papercrete house. I know all'a y'all have missed my 
modest opinions, and Tarvalee I owe you a response, unless you've run off with 
someone else, like Reinhold (tell me, off list, that's not true), while waiting.
    The best example of freedom of speech knee jerk reactions (which I'll 
probably get to this post) is the current "war" in Irag. One who criticizes the 
war is presumed to not support the troops, a gross presumption. The troops are 
there because they signed a contract; they have to be there or face penalties; 
they took the risk of getting killed. Unfortunately this reason they're dying 
is stupid; the war itself is a US Government, business operation, 
unfortunatelly run by an egomaniac who deludes himself that God authorized him to kill 
tens of thousands of Muslims. Always remember the troops and the government are 
NOT the same thing, especially during this 4th(?) Crusade against the alleged 
heathens. (Robert "Bobby" Gates, the new SECDEF, was a grade school playmate 
of mine; I hope to hell he brings some sense to this mess quickly; I guess 
it'll be Sunnyside Elementary's fault if he doesn't.)
    On pct-l we are free to post strong, weak, or no opinions. A few are 
rude, more irritate others (surely I've irritated a few); some (like me again) 
post before thinking or reading all the previous posts on a subject. The ones who 
are rude should be shown the delete button; when someone replies to them, 
others reply; soon a whole thread of discussing one rude email exists. Don't 
reply - DELETE. I'm puzzled why one would leave the list, instead of using the 
button, but people are people, and there could well be other, unspoken reasons 
for leaving. I read one email about this Ron, and deleted a couple dozen unread; 
it's easy, and makes cleaning out hundreds of accumulated emails much easier.

Bob "Trekker"
Big Bend Desert Denizen
Naturalized Citizen - Republic of Texas