Mitt Romney says military and troops are the same thing.
He's dead wrong, for the same reason that corporations are not people.
People have hearts. They have kids. They get jobs. They get sick. They thrive. They dance. They live. They love. And they die. And that matters. That matters. That matters because we don’t run this country for corporations, we run it for people.
Romney continues to deny the fundamental humanity of human beings, while promoting the lie that non-human entities deserve the full rights of citizenship.
Republicans largely agree with him, in practice if not in theory.
Why does this matter?
It matters because we are at a fundamental crossroads in American history, where unborn children are given more rights than the women whose bodies are nurturing them. We're at a time in history where money is treated as speech, and therefore can be used to drown out the voices of ordinary Americans like Elaine Brye.
Funding our "military" could mean paying government contractors for no-bid contracts, while denying veterans access to jobs, housing, and education. Funding "troops" means ensuring that we don't put them in harm's way without giving them the compensation, protection, and dignity they deserve. Funding our "military" could involve funding the machinery of war without protecting the human rights of warriors.
War is bad enough, in all the ways that it dehumanizes us. Wars force warriors into life and death decisions that go far beyond anything that the "pro-life" movement should be able to tolerate.
I've been a therapist with military families for the past several months, and I've heard the stories. One gunner told me of the time that he lost it and indiscriminately shot into an Afghan village, killing a family's goat in cold blood because he was tired of the insurgent's bullets whizzing over his head. Another soldier told me of the time that his helicopter lost control and he nearly died as a result of the equipment failure. The nightmares haunt him to this day.
Helicopters don't have nightmares.
What irritates me most is this idea from the Republicans that "peace through strength" means entitlement to bully other human beings in order to obtain military advantage. On this point, even Joe Biden's claim that we should pursue Bin Laden "through heaven and hell" is troubling to me. And while I agree that those who commit atrocities should be brought to justice, I'm still troubled sometimes by the knowledge that Bin Laden was never brought to trial and we have detainees in Gitmo who are still being held simply because they're suspicious - not because they committed crimes but because they know someone who has.
There is no true peace that comes from killing civilians. There is nothing "pro-life" about cheering when soldiers urinate on dead corpses, no matter what was done by the persons whose bodies were used as urinals.
No, Governor Romney. "Military" and "Troops" are not the same thing.
"Military" is a term that allows us to see in generalities, but ignore the specifics. And we understand why you use the terms you use, because you say you want a strong "military" in the same way that you wanted Bain Capital to be profitable. Your version of capitalism is amoral, in ways that would turn the stomach of Adam Smith and the other moral philosophers who saw the power of capitalism to unleash human potential. You use people as means of profit. You don't treat them with dignity and respect. You exploit people.
I won't vote for you and I won't support anyone who endorses you. I won't do it because I know that being "pro-life" is not about forcing rape victims to bear the fruit of their victimization. Being "pro-life" involves protecting life from conception to grave, and that includes providing healthcare and housing and education, not as privileges for those who can afford it but as basic human rights for which we the people are responsible.
Being "pro-family" is not about discriminating against the minority of families who don't fit your preferred Mormon viewpoint. It's about protecting those who are most vulnerable and understanding that the Pledge of Allegiance is more than just words. To support America is to support liberty and justice for all, not just for those who can afford to donate to your campaign or who agree with your viewpoint.
And so, I extend liberty and justice to you. You're free to lie, you're free to spend hundreds of millions of dollars attacking our President, and you're free to put your money in offshore accounts to evade paying your fair share of taxes.
And I'm free to call you a coward, a traitor, and a sociopath.
God bless America. And may God have mercy on your soul.