Wow!

Do they at least have some sort of parachute backup?

I wonder how much control they have once they have reached a certain speed? I just wonder about gliding into a mountainous area and suddenly realizing there is no where to land.

Balls of steel!

Y'know, if you really want something, you can make it happen. You said you tried to join the Marine reserves. How about giving it another shot? They're in greater need now. Or sign up for the regular army. They're beggars now, not choosers. And why ask? Why make a point of it? Because this war has asked nothing of anyone except the troops. If you aren't really serious about serving (and I'm as sure of that as of anything I've ever known), how about advocating on this self-satified site of yours for paying for the war? How about advocating for adequate medical care for returning troops -- especially the neglected National Guard? How about demanding of our congress that they include all real costs of the war now and going forward in their budgets, and that they make actual real clear plans for paying for it?

And joe 6 pack: have you served? If not I'd be truly embarrassed to use that term "balls of steel" unless there are no mirrors around.

There is nothing --NOTHING -- more hypocritical than typing away in your safe little dens, paying outrageously low taxes for what we are getting, praising our very praiseworthy troops, decrying those who criticize how Bush is treating them, and yet finding excuse after excuse for not serving yourselves. It's one thing if you were keeping your mouths shut. But you guys are harping away like you have some sort of entitlement and you have a monopoly on truth and patriotism. So. Put up or shut up.

of, course, Dr. Sid, you always forget that people can give in other ways.

don't family members of troops serving also devote emotion and vigilence to the cause? was that nothing I did as a middle school child in Germany with my mother coming into my bedroom at night in tears and hysterical because she didn't know if my father would be coming back alive from the Gulf War?

Or how about watching the news when the black hawks went down in Somalia wondering if my dad was in that fight and waiting for days to know he was okay.

Or how about having my cousing serve two tours in Iraq?

Or how about the fact that 2% of my pay goes directly to fisher house that houses soldiers' families near army hospitals.

Or what about my tax dollars, of which I take no deductions? Don't they go to pay for the war also?

And I worked at the VA during both wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and I know that all that hogwash about our troops not getting what they need is a bunch of crap.

That guy that is suing Michael Moore is one of many soldiers with disabilities that received a HOUSE (which is the least we could do for him instead of using him as a pawn in agitprop).

These are not big sacrifices, but I feel a duty to support the troops and the mission instead of whining about it and contributing to demoralizng the troops.

Damn right they're not big sacrifices. Not nearly enough to make you a supporter of troops and me and other democrats who criticize bush's whole concept and carrying out of the Iraq war not supporters too. Your whole shtick is to say how unamerican democrats are; how much they hate America and the troops. And your blog has nearly nothing about solutions. You seem to need to get off by claiming how dangerous democrats are; you see only one side of everything, and the side you see consists of Coulterizing the opposition. It's pretty f##kin easy to kiss off all criticism as whining. And demoralizing to the troops. I can tell you that when I was in Vietnam and my wife was participating in war protest, I thought she was brave as hell. So did my buddies. History, of course, has proved her right.

Troops, and their families need to believe in what they're doing. Convincing them of the rightness is part of training. Most mothers who lost a child can't face the possibility that they died needlessly. Those that see it that way are villified. It's good policy to do so. Demanding more of our government when it sends kids (other people's kids) off to war is not WHINING. It's legitimate, and you ought to demand no less yourself. But the sort of smugness you have is impervious. It lets you sleep with yourself. Hating democrats has lots of precedent, and it (along with hating gays) seems to work well for republicans. It gets them elected. Other than that, how are things working out for us all?

point to a post where I said that Democrats are unamerican and hate troops.

you're arguing against a self-created caricature of who you wish we are--not what is actually said or being discussed.

what have you done for a soldier except belly ache?

Point to a post? Ok, how's this:

"This should make your blood boil. We need to realize that high gas prices, excess spending and idiots in the Senate are trivial compared to the nightmare that could happen to our troops if the Dems gain the majority this november." Or that whole sorry what Dr Sid would say about Normandy thing.

What have I done for the troops? First, been one. Second, doing everything I can to point out how badly they've been treated. Written letters. Voting for every democrat I can find. Giving money to defeat republicans and return the congress to accountability, to regain separation of powers, possiblyl even to return to rule of law.

You may think it's a caricature: your blog is 90% vitriol about democrats. It does nothing to move the ball forward. If you think that post about Normandy that you borrowed isn't proof of my characterization, well, there's no possibility of self-reflection on your part, and time wasted on mine.

So, Dr. Sid, in your world, do only those that have served have First Amendment Rights? At 52 I am too old to sign up. I was too young for the Vietnam-era draft. If the draft had continued and I had been called, I would have gone. After our Vietnam participation was winding down, as I was a Liberal then, I didn't have the wisdom to see the value of military service. Knowing what I know now, I might have signed up. Life doesn't have a rewind button.

I can still be a cheerleader, for those that I know (personally) that have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan and may return. If this War on Terror continues for another 7 or 8 years, my son may choose to enlist. We don't have a choice, if we quit, the Islamists won't.

I supposed I could check and see if the evil Haliburton might need any geologists or environmental technicians to help with the Iraq effort.

As for the balls of steel, I was referring to the bravery of one that would jump out of an airplane with that thing on his back. That is my way of extending admiration for courage.

I am thankful to those that serve now that we haven't had another major attack since 9/11. If someone had come up to you on the afternoon of 9/11 and told you that we would not have another attack of that magnitude in the next 4 1/2 years plus - Would you have believed them? I wouldn't have. I don't take my freedom for granted.

Dr. Sid, I am honestly very grateful for your service in the military. I grew up in a military family and know what kind of sacrifices people have to make on long deployments, injuries, war and death.

But this is a precise example of what liberals do: you cannot support war unless you've actually served in a war. This is a bogus way to shut people up who you disagree with.

FDR never went to war, yet sent soldiers to Europe after being attacked by Japan. Is FDR a chickenhawk? You wrote so lovingly of him in another post.

That's like telling parents that they cannot have a say in the educational system unless they've been a teacher.

I pay taxes and I vote--that means I get a say.