[kj] OT: "Punk" band Yellowcard to tour Mid-East as part of USO "support the troops" campaign

[B. Oliver Sheppard]

I addressed the "troops do what they are told" point at the rant I wrote 
at the Cultpunk.com URL. Some troops don't do what they're told -- they 
go AWOL, conscientious objectors. Those are the troops I support. This 
"the poor troops are caught in the middle" stuff doesn't fly with me.

To put it another way: The idea of, say, a Brit 'punk' band entertaining 
colonial troops in India, when it was a colony (which would be 
chronologically impossible, yes, I know), is laughable. "We're just 
doin' it for the boys." But Rollins going to Iraq, and exploiting the 
real human horror that was Abu Ghraib, like Al Franken, the so-called 
liberal, did -- that's pretty sleazy.

-Oliver


Alexander Smith wrote:

> More to the point, I don't think Rollins is "shit" for entertaining 

> the troops. I'm dead sure Henry disagrees with the policies of the 

> Bush Administration. The war in Iraq is not the troops' collective 

> fault. They go where they're told. I doubt the majority of them are 

> any happier about being in Iraq than we are. Henry shouldn't be blamed 

> for being compassionate towards their plight.

>

> Now capitalizing on it by releasing a live album and 

> self-mythologizing yourself as a new millennial Sgt. Rock ? That's a 

> different story.

>

> Alex in NYC

>