::sighs:: AR-15. Sometimes your right-wing extremism surprises even me, who recognizes such extremists as Dr. Laura, Rush, and Rev. Falwell. However, I ask if you've ever even listened to "Imagine"? Now while there are some that could argue, as you apparently did, that it was about forming a communist society, the song doesn't mention such communist ideals as income redistribution, heavy subsidies, massive welfare. It does say that it would be great if the world was able to be perfect, people wouldn't starve, want for healthcare, etc. Now, if you believe that the ideal sung about in the song requires a massive police state, then that doesn't speak well for you as a person. There are other ways to accomplish it, admittedly perhaps as impossible given human nature, but there are ways. For instance, reduce the rate of population growth to some negative number so that there would be sufficient resources for th number of the people on the earth. Screen for mental illness at a young age so that they can be treated in the early stages, instead of later, etc. And, since the "wealthy" Lennon probably gave away more of his money to charities and I'm willing to even say as a percentage of his income then you do, well, perhaps you need to think about that.
Also, just because Kerry protested the Vietnam war does not mean he gave "aid and comfort" to the Viet Cong. A lot of armchair historians in the current time go on and on about how we could have "won" Vietnam. And it's even true, we could have. If in the 1950s we had supported Ho Chi Minh against the French, or even against the Catholic, which I mention since most of Vietnam is Buddhist, government, we would have had an ally in that part of the world and probably saved thousands of American lives. The U.S. made drastic mistakes in Vientam, they believed that a Guerilla war could be won, they believed that by killing more of the enemy than we suffered casualties we could some how convince the Viet Cong to give up. Oh, and by the way, after the Tet offensive the Viet Cong were no longer a major player in the war, after that point the North Vietnamese Army began taking a more active role in the war.
So, who started the killing? Immaterial. A majority of the South Vietnamese wanted Ho Chi Minh, or perhaps to be more accurate, they did not want the Diem government. Such popular movements have always won against a government, which in their view, was imposed from the outside. And, as Nixon pointed out, perhaps the wisest thing he said, was the United States did not lose South Vietnam, the South Vietnamese did.
If you want to play armchair historian, which I highly recommend everyon do, because a lot can be learned from history, go and read accounts, not just from allied generals, but also from the citizens of Vietnam. The U.S., unfortunately, picked the wrong side in a losing battle. We picked it because we were afraid of communism, even though we could have had a communist ally. Ho Chi Minh hated the Chinese and had a lukewarm relationship with Moscow. In fact, Ho Chi Minh appealed to the American government at least two times, once after the First World War and once after the Second to help the Vietnamese people determine their own destiny as an independent nation from France. Something the United States once asked the French for in their conflict with Britain.
So before you make any more inane comments about how questioning the Vietnam war is unpatriotic or EVIL. Please read the above. And go read some books.
Cheers
