From the Sun:
Jason Gilson of East Bremerton, who as a Marine corporal was wounded in Nasiriyah early in the Iraq conflict and is now in the inactive Ready Reserve, marched in Bainbridge's July 4th parade holding a sign that said "Veterans for Bush."
He was toward the rear of a group of Bush supporters in the parade, which featured several political groups. Along the route, he heard booing aimed at the Bush supporters, he said.
On Winslow Way, however, he said a man and a woman approached him and called him a "murderer," a charge reminiscent of events that occurred to Vietnam War veterans when they returned home.
"You don't need to be attacking individuals for their partisanship," he said. "I was very unimpressed with the way the people of Bainbridge Island were."
Matt's Chat
This soldier is a hero...as are all are fighting men and women who have served with distinction in Iraq. For him to endure this sort of treatment from his fellow citizens is a travesty.A WMD visitor (John) refers us to this editorial by Mr. Scheffler:
Where else in this country but Berkeley and Bainbridge is it considered politically correct and culturally acceptable for a young disabled combat veteran to be held up to derision in a “non partisan” parade because he supports a Republican President? The vocal Bainbridge Islanders are tolerant of their own beliefs but when they cannot inflict them on others then tolerance does not apply.You just can't top Shakespeare...
For twenty years I have listened to the professed Bainbridge doctrine of inclusion and tolerance. It is a charade that has been festooned on stickers and placards and the topic of editorials and letters to the editor. It makes great rhetoric but it is a very thin veneer masking a systemic hypocrisy. The actions of this particular parade announcer were amplified by the libelous sign produced and distributed by the Washington State Democratic party. This was further underscored by the vulgar machinations of a Kerry buttoned female in front of the Republican Women’s booth. Taken in context it paints a far more accurate picture of the fictional Bainbridge tolerance.
Shakespeare would have described it better:"Their tolerance is like virtue among harlots, it is in very short supply and not available to the common man."
Mark's Remarks
Yep, them holier than thou Liberal Democrats, decrying America whenever they want but god forbid a Soldier exercise the RIGHTS HE FOUGHT AND BLED FOR, lest he be called a murderer and shouted down, or god forbid women actually be allowed to choose to be Republicans, lest those holier than thouDemocrats try to force them into submission. The hypocrisy is amazing. And libs say they stand for being able to say what they want. Unless if you are the elite libs, I guess you are not allowed to express yourself, huh Dul?Truly, this was a disgusting display, and the more we find out about this community of Bainbridge the more I revile it. It is a disgusting bastion of anti-American drivel. No soldier should be besmirched THIS WOUNDED SOLDIER was! It is disgraceful and dishonorable, and I hope there is nationwide outrage and backlash...of course, there won't be, because the lib media is sitting on this outrageous story because it would stoke the fires of flyover country, where sacrifice means something.
