Where do these people come from?

[FirefightnRick]

Ok, this is off subject, but I'll say right now that if your an Anti-War protester just stop reading any further. But since this is a football board, and football can be a violent activity, one of taking ground and giving it up, I thought some of you might find this a bit interesting at least to the extent that this country truly is made up of all kinds.

Most of you are aware of the tragedy of 9-11-01. It affected this country greatly and we will never live the same as we did before. It affected my job professionally and personally as well. There is not a single person on my department, or in most of the large departments around the country that didn't know someone who was directly or indirectly affected by the 9-11-01 event in some way. They may know someone who works for FDNY, attended a class with them at the National Fire Academy in Baltimore, MD or someone who served on a national USAR team that helped in the following weeks to try to dig out those who lost their lives in the "Pile" and so on. We had several members of our department serve on the Texas Task Force USAR team who on their return shared their experiences of the horrors they saw. I personally built a memorial that is up in my station overlooking the massive Trucks that are parked, waiting for action in our truck bay. The memorial honors the men who served my station for a certain amount of years since it was first housed in a different location in 1922. On that memorial I placed a collection of debris given to me by a civilian friend and ex New York Native who brought it back for display. It serves as a reminder to us all of those who gave their lives that day so others may live.

Then we went to war with Afghanistan, to take the fight to those who delivered that cheap shot on that fateful day. Now we are gearing up for war again against someone who seems vowed to help in any way to deliver another cheap shot at America. I'm not saying I know the rights and wrongs of Irag and the stakes that lie ahead in that venture, but I do know on a personall level we as a country, even overseas from that place, are going to be forever guarded against another attack. Personally I wished Bush Sr made a large crater of that place back in '91. This past week our Haz Mat teams are being briefed on the possible use of the toxin "Ricin" and it's potential use as a terrorist attack because an untold amount of it was recently found in a London apartment. How far is London from Ft. Worth? However far, that bit of news is HERE and is being given some interest.

With this all being said, we have seen the War protesters on TV. I never give them much thought as they are usually the ones who want all the freedoms but refuse to help pay for it or honor those who did already. They are insignificant to me. But....

It just so happens that over 40 years ago, the men who laid their lives on the line for the citizens of East Ft. Worth from my station decided to name their Fire Engine. Firefighters are traditional. They are of the offensive mindset, at least until the defensive is all that is left. But Firefighters want to help in anyway, regardless of the emergency or danger. It's just their nature. And the men from my station decided to name their Engine "War Wagon" after the heavily iron-built stage coach in the 1950's John Wayne movie, "The War Wagon". Well, today we are on our 5th or 6th "War Wagon". The name can mean whatever you want it to mean. But I think back then over 40 years ago they meant for it to mean...."regardless of the danger that confronts us, we are going to get the job done"... The Iron Stage coach in the movie was specifically designed to do just that, get it's shipment through regardless of how many bandits and robbers it encountered along it's delivery line. We are proud of this piece of equipment as it's known throughout Ft. Worth always being present at many of the fires and emergencys in town and that it was used for many years as the burial coach for many of our FF's who past away or were killed in the line of duty.

But here's the kicker and the point of this rant. Yesterday we were informed that a woman came into our fire station and demanded that we change the 40+ year old name of our engine to something else "less WAR LIKE such as Helper Wagon or something to that fact because the U.S. was preparing for an unjust war and it's just not right". Where.......................do these people come from?

Rick

[Rudy]

they are usually the ones who want all the freedoms but refuse to help pay for it or honor those who did already.

EXACTLY!!!! I have never seen it put a more perfect way. Those morons want all the freedoms, but wont pay for it.

As far as the name "War Wargon" goes. I think it is a great name. If my house were to catch fire, I want the firefighters to come with the attitude, intent, and determination to put it out. That name demonstrates that. I dont want the Helper Wagon to come. Anyone who drives that only wants to help put the fire out. I want someone who will go to war against the fire!

Keep up the good work!!!

[EagleMBA]

They are spineless appeasers, Rick, who ooze onto land from the scum around the aeration pond at the sewage treatment plant. They think that the godless maniacs that rule some countries on this earth can be negotiated with and that their word is good. These people are ignorant of the lessons history has taught us and they are naive.

[eagle60]

There are people who for religious or political reasons want to influence the country against going to war with someone like Iraq. Sadly they must be poor students of history. What would have happened if the countries surrounding Germany in 1936 had taken action against the Nazis before they started WWII?

Many people also think there is something immoral about attacking first. Many times we have done the same under true or fabricated reasons that were a threat to our country. Against the Spanish in Cuba for example (The attack on the USS Maine was likely fabricated,) wars against the Indians, Mexico, etc.

Do we want to send the wrong messages to our enemies? We can do so by remaining passive. The peaceniks have always been there and they are loud, but they haven't won the public opinion war with the majority of the American people.

Once the battle is over and we emerge winners, the peaceniks will retreat until the next time. They are like the ants, lots of numbers but no one substantial except for certain movie stars, politicians, and attention getters. Let them talk with the survivors of the Holocaust. Nobody stepped forward to save them until it was too late.

There's a good article in the American Heritage magazine (March 2002) about "East vs. West" by Victor Davis Hanson. The theme is that our war didn't begin on September 11, it began 3,000 years ago.

To quote Hanson, "Multiculturalism, conflict-resolution theory, postmodernism, pacifism, and a host of other -isms and -ologies all sought to achieve a kinder world where quality of results would be enforced rather than equality of opportunity ensured, where injustice, disagreement, and thus war itself could somehow disappear. History and literature, the age-old instructors of war, were often crowded out as the proper guides to the human condition; facts, knowledge, and even methodical inquiry were replaced in many of our schools by an ideology. The result was that now many of our cultural leaders know little of history, and they mask their ignorance with the arrogance of good intentions, fueled by the bounty of American materialism."

Read the article through if you can find it. It'll answer a lot of questions some people may have.

[UNT96]

I was a groomsmen in a Wedding this last weekend in Florida (had to miss the banquet - DOH!). The wedding party had resreved a gazebo for picture and such as the Ctholic church had some pretty strict rules regarding how many pictures could be taken in their house of prayer. The bride's dad paid good money to reserve the gazebo and when we showed up to do it, WAR PROTEST. I walked right up to the head hippie in charge and asked if I could talk to him. I explained the situation to him and he actually got on the microphone and said that they were going to have to cut it short, blah blah blah.. The crowd went nuts, I thought they were going to riot. They were screaming that they would not be squelched by another Bush propaganda move and the like. They refused to give way and went back to hugging all of the trees and smoking pot, etc...

This group of people truly believed that President Bush (or his brother) had found out about their 30 person protest and scheduled a wedding party complete with tuxedos and limos just to end the protest early. It was so ridiculous. I had a lady come hand me a flyer and then ask for $25 for the cause. I laughed and tried to tell her what was going on and she stormed off telling me that war was nothing to laugh at. I wasn't laughing at the war; hell I have one of my best friends over there crapping his pants about this whole war because he is getting ready to fight it. I was laughing at the hyprocrisy of the whole situation. How could a photo copied flyer filled with ridiculous accusations cost $25 to make? There were no young people there, just ex-hippies that have been waiting for something like this to come along since the last Gulf War so they could have something to do and an excuse to smoke pot.

The whole thing just pissed me off. There are some wars we should stay the hell out of. When we are attacked, we HAVE to attack back; that is how it goes. If we don't then the attacks will keep coming. It really makes you re-think the whole situation of holding back the Israelis for all of these years. They have been begging to get the go ahead to fight back for so long and we have kept their hands tied to keep our oil prices down. Just think of what the Middle East would be like if we had allowed those countries to duke it out over their own disagreements the way that they wanted to. Sure we might have paid more for oil for a little while but 9/11 would have never happened. Now we are ina situation where we have no choice but to go in and be the bad guys. And my buddy's wedding even got messed up because of it. This is gonna get ugly before all is said and done. Everyone needs to go back and remember how they felt on 9/11. Watch the old footage, watch those people running for their lives, then put their god damn peace posters down and support what we have been FORCED to do now, rather than bitch about what should have been done in the past.

I am glad you brought it up Rick, we should not be scared to talk about it. The worst thing that can happen is that we ignore it like it never happened. We need to remember and learn from the events last year. Not run from what we have to do to prevent them in the future. Economic sanctions just do not work. They are ignored and eventually the people that suffer are those that we need on our side, the common man.

I wonder how preposterous people in Iraz would think it was that a group of 30 neighbors were FIGHTING against a SCHOOL trying to expand to educate more people. A SCHOOL trying to spend 100 million dollars in improving thri economy and well being of the city they live in. The Denuia folks need to be happy that we live oin a country where education is expanding and we are building schools rather than weapon's facilities in their back yards.

I wonder how the Iraqi people would react to being offered a greenspace between their neighborhood and an area where their dictator was testing chemical weapons on his own people.

People in America have had it too easy for too long. Peace is not always the answer, sometimes you have to fight to protect your country and all of the damn greenspace that we have.

[DeepGreen]

These are the same people that enjoy the right to get in front of national TV at our nations capital and call George W. Bush, Dick Chaney, and Donald Rumsfeld the true "Axis of Evil". To me, people like those protesters calling the leaders of our country the "Axis of Evil" should be jailed for treason.

[Zeke]

War Wagon is a great name for the truck and I hope that the fire department does not back down. Does that lady really think that America is more or less likely to have war because of what a Fire Engine's name is?

I know some of you really liked the name Eppy, but wasn't it because of this same kind of reasoning that the student body changed the name of Scrappy to Eppy?

[UNTFan23]

These are the same people that enjoy the right to get in front of national TV at our nations capital and call George W. Bush, Dick Chaney, and Donald Rumsfeld the true "Axis of Evil".   To me, people like those protesters calling the leaders of our country the "Axis of Evil" should be jailed for treason.

While I don't agree with what many of these protesters say, jailing them because they call Bush Jr. an "Axis of Evil" makes us no better then the governments that people sought to escape before the U.S. was even a sparkle in anyone's eyes.

Last I checked, freedom of speech was still a right given to us in the Bill of Rights. <_<

[Rudy]

people calling the leaders of our country the "Axis of Evil" should be jailed for treason.

100% behind you. Lets start with that racist hypocrite Louis Farrahkan. I actually watched one of his "sermons" once. He flat out said that the Bush admin conducted the 9/11 attacks. I got an idea, lets put all of those SOB's on a plane and fly thier asses into a building. Better yet, lets all let them see how it is to lose someone close to them in a similar situation. Then we will see who is calling for peace, and who is the "Axis of Evil"

I am very opinionated about this, I always have been. But when that plane flew into the pentagon, my roommate at the time, a former USAF personel, lost 27 friends.

I have asthma. Yet, I have repeatedly tried to get into the military, before and even more so since 9/11. Even the National Gaurd. but for the time being I am inelgible. IF they do reinstitute the draft, I will go, and i am ready to go.

Little pricks like those anti war jerk offs can fall off the face of the earth and I'd be happy to push them!!!

Its funny, right as I finish typing this, I am watching a piece on Sportscenter where Roger Clemens visited troops in the Mid East. Makes you wonder where those people's parents went wrong.

[eeally]

I think "War Wagon" is an awesome name.

However, I do not think putting a crater via nuclear force is the answer. War is bad, very bad.

I do know that conflict will be inevidible but it is very sad.

Do you guys think the UNT football board is for the USA pro war effort.

Let's just go kill the whole continent. Lets do it man, that will make up for all the previous terror attacks and the USA will be the hero and envy of the world. KILL all so we can get fuel for 92 cents a gallon. Boost the economy baby.

We definatly need to strike first, since Iraq may invade Corpus Christi.

Once we take over Iraq, fuel prices will be down, jobs will come back and only 50,000 people will be dead.

[EagleD]

So let me get this straight. Someone who has no idea about the legend or history of a truck's name takes some offense at it. (That her tax dollars help to pay for I might add) And then voices her displeasure. Is that what this whole rant is about? Forget about all this "hippie bashing" piling on. I want to get the facts straight.

The next time some right winger pisses me off can I come on this board and throw a temper tantrum? I thought us tree huging hippies were the crybabies. But I haven't heard this much whining in a long time.

What's this have to do with football anyway?

[GT(N)T]

God bless the soldiers who fight our country's battles. And God bless the protestors who ask if that battle is truly necessary. They both make our nation great.

God bless Texas!

[tonyhuntoon]

George Will put it appropriately several weeks ago. "If not now, when?" Are we going to wait until the fanatics take out one of our large cities with a nuclear device? These same fanatics will be the ones out there dancing the "Where was George?" theme. People like this need to realize that the world is not a nice place. There are people that want to kill you because of the simple fact that you are an American.

Those of you who don't think bio-terrorism isn't possible should go pick up a copy of a book called "Germs". This book is just damn frightening. After reading it, I remembered a Stephen King book I read many years ago called "The Stand". At one point the book bothered me so much I had to put it down for several weeks before I picked it up again. The reason it was so frightening was the fact that, out of all of the King books, this one could possibly happen. This is why ALL TERRORISTS must die. They are the Hitlers of our time.

[twodollarpistols]

I only have one thing to say to the ignorant "anti-war" people....It is better to be thought a fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

[UNTLifer]

I have one queston for the anti-war folks in our country. If I were to walk up to you and punch you in the mouth for no reason, what would you do? Would you smile, remain calm, and walk away? What if I did this repeatedly, and told you I was going to continue to do this, because I didn't share your views on the world? What would you do then?

If the anti-war supporters are true to their word, then you would try to reason with me, correct? Well, what if every time you tried to start a dialogue with me concerning how I was treating you, I punched you in the face the instant you opened your mouth? Would you continue to try to engage me in rational dialogue? This is what you are asking America to do.

9-11 proved the point that these terrorists and those that support them have gone beyond the point of rationalizing with them. To get their attention we must fight back, not with words, but with a punch in the face. What these people have done has effected millions of Americans, and it will continue to effect us until something is done to stop them. That time is now.

[Travis]

I walked right up to the head hippie in charge and asked if I could talk to him.  I explained the situation to him and he actually got on the microphone and said that they were going to have to cut it short, blah blah blah.. The crowd went nuts, I thought they were going to riot.  They were screaming that they would not be squelched by another Bush propaganda move and the like.  They refused to give way and went back to hugging all of the trees and smoking pot, etc...

that is funny...

these people want privaledges (spelling) with no responsibility!

[MeanGreen61]

I believe it was '79 or '80 ,when I was living in Southern California, an acquaintance was at LAX (LA airport) to meet a flight his brother was on. He saw a "war protester" spit on a serviceman and call him a "baby killer". To his amazement an older man got in the protester face, pushed his shirt sleeve up and pointed to numbers tatooed on his arm. He screamed at the "protester" that it was people like him that were responsible for this and spit on him! Apparently he was a Nazi death camp survivor..... This says it all as far as I'm concerned.

[GT(N)T]

I agree that the world would be a better place if S. Hussein were deposed. If the leadership of the United States decides that war is necessary, then I'll support that effort whole-heartedly.

I also think the Iranian fundamentalists pose a threat to our safety. The Libyans with Qaddafy are a threat as are the North Koreans. If its worth American lives and money taking out Hussein, then why not these others?

It should also be remembered that the most likely source for terrorists obtaining nuclear weapons is not Iraq, North Korea, or Iran. The most likely source is the former Soviet Union. Are you ready to use our military to solve that threat?

Let's fight if we have to, but let's think first.

God bless Texas!

[Cerebus]

People, this is a board for Mean Green Athletics... there are plenty of other places on the web to talk about politics or anything else you want.