If you weren't there, shut your mouth

I saw this bumper sticker on a minivan at the Vancouver VA, today. It made me smile, I'll admit, and of course - of course! - I get the sentiment. Greater still than the impulse Veterans who served in theater have to separate themselves from other Veterans (can't tell you how many times I've heard "I'm a combat Veteran," as though other Veterans are less for having better luck), is the need to reserve their war for only themselves and others who understand. This is, obviously, a common theme among Veterans, and it's incredibly stupid and dangerous.

Here's the thing about civil society that less and less people - especially military people - seem to get: we're all in this together. This is our country, and these wars are our wars. Vietnam Veterans don't hold a reserved privilege to discuss "their" war, just as I don't get to kick Bill Maher's teeth in for calling me a coward (your apology can suck it, Bill, you have no idea what you're talking about). We're in this together, and that means we all have skin in the game, be it money, prestige, philosophical angst, or actual fucking skin. We're in this together, and we all need to talk about the big stuff like taxes and education and the space program and, yeah, war, both current, future, and most especially past.  Because that's how we avoid making dumbassed mistakes like Vietnam.

Shutting down dissent and debate is what terrorists do. It's what people with no faith in their own beliefs do. People who can't stand toe-to-toe and deal with opposing views without letting their hands go or picking up a gun are cowards, to their core. They fear the possibility that their opinion or ideology or cosmology cannot withstand scrutiny. That's the impetus for those who commit violence over words and ideas, the motivation of those who insist that debate requires a shibboleth, and I'm not having it.

So, dear Vietnam Veteran with the minivan and the bumper sticker telling me to shut up, I just wanted to say, "No. I won't shut my mouth." Even if I hadn't "Served, Stood Tall, and Remained Proud" of service in my own conflict, I wouldn't shut my mouth. Because I'm an American, and the next unjustified war of aggression, the next corporate resource grab, the next time a halfwit in the White House decides to redeem himself in the eyes of his father, or whatever the real motivation for invading Iraq was, it's going to be my kid instead of me. And you'd better bet your ass I'll be flapping my gums as loudly and persistently as my strength, stamina, and eloquence will allow.