There are two serious problems with this image posted by Darcie Johnston of Vermonters for Health Care Freedom on her facebook page.
Here’s the despicable image:
And here’s what’s wrong with it:
1) It implies that people in different states are fundamentally different. This is untrue – humans are humans. There are people with varied beliefs everywhere you go. There is no such thing as a blue or red state – all states are purple. This is a method of dividing people, instead of uniting them (I guess she mustn’t like being part of the UNITED States).
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and
2) It furthers the derogatory dog whistles of bigots who believe the following, and who want you to believe these things, too:
(A) People who join the armed forces are automatically better than others.
(B) People who join the armed forces are more patriotic than other people.
(D) People who join the armed forces are never gay.
(E) People who are gay are automatically lesser than others.
(F) People who live in states that tend to vote republican join the armed services, and people who live in states that don’t vote republican never join the armed services.
(G) People who live in states that vote democratic are unserious, immoral, partiers who don’t care about their country.
It’s nice to see that at least one person called her on this sad display bigotry.
It’s sad she is so ignorant of the proud military heritage of Vermont. This is not to say that militarism is automatically good or bad, but the state’s participation shows that military participation and respect for people in all their diverse beauty are not mutually exclusive.
She also denigrates the memories of all the Vermonters who have died in the ongoing wars in the Middle East. Perhaps she is unaware that Vermont has the highest per-capita casualty rate in the country?
It’s not surprising to see her comment about how she wishes she lived in another state. Clearly, she doesn’t know or care about the state in which she lives.
But I guess we could have guessed that by the fact that she is fighting to prevent Vermonters from getting equal, affordable access to quality medical care.
disturbing
and this is the group that refuses to report where the money comes from
btw – if Red State folks smoke that must mean that Darcie expects them to pay more for health care (personal responsibility and all that)
the image asked if we have “any questions”
here’s one, did that soldier agree to allow his image to be used for this purpose?
but hopefully, Darcie makes her own wish come true and moves to a red state; preferably Texas, where she can enjoy the natural beauty of a totally unregulated state. There she will feel free to be bigoted…and possibly very thirsty.
Here is a 2010 list of the Vermonters who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.boston.com/news/loc…
I’ve lived in Vermont all of my life and I’ve never seen anyone here dressed up like the clown/fairies in the above picture. The gay Vermonters that I know are more likely to be dressed in Carharts and flannel.
Some drive plow trucks. Some work construction. Many serve in the armed services and fight in wars. They are all patriots.
It’s strange to see the GOP cry about eroding freedoms while simultaneously belittling people who live their lives freely.
So silly. Maybe it will soon be Smart States and Stupid States. Looks like they want to make it all ABSTAINING STATES.
Judgment questioned in 2009
Johnston’s judgment was in question once in the past. It might be typical primary politics for all I know but -In the 2009 Maine Republican governor’s primary race a rival campaign noted her questionable commission from a group event at the same time she was fund raising for one of the events participants.
http://www.mainepolitics.net/c…
I took her comment to mean not that she is moving, but that she hopes Vermont will become like other bat-shit insane states, like New Hampshire and Maine – controlled by bat-shit insane extremists that want to remove laws that protect women from being beaten, to prevent non-Republicans from voting, to prevent workers from getting paid for their work…
Did her colors run yet? . . .
Even if Darcie Johnston takes down her offensive characature of a U.S. soldier and weasels back to her bigot hole, I’m sure her OMG LOL BFF Christopher P. Thayer or her “no budgie” friend Laurie Morrow will carry her freak banner on their (**cough**cough**) pages.
Yeah, why didn’t Darcy think this’d make her look like an asshole?
…that somebody who is against basic human decency wrt healthcare would adhere to a rigid tribalism that hates on gays and such…
i’m hoping the soldier in the picture is gay, you never know… 🙂
If the R’s are all smokers as the picture implies, their will be a lot fewer in the future. That means their unused social security contributions will help balance the trust fund for the D’s.
this tells me everything I ever need to know about this woman.
The soldier in the image is ‘The Marlboro Marine’. He now lives in Kentucky…
The whole article is a good read:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/…
There is more on his Wikipedia page. Looks like he is separated from his wife, and dropped out of the treatment program that the photographer who took his picture encouraged him to join.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J…
Personally, I’d prefer to live in a (state) world where we have less of the pain and trauma and sadness that Mr. Miller is dealing with, and more of the fellows dancing in the street.*
*Couldn’t find any information on the second image through Google… only links that point back to the Red State / Blue State sites…
I’m surprised you reproduced this without fuzzing out the names of the commentators (or cropping the comments off the image altogether).
Poor internet manners, GMD.
And if I were to add an (F)(1):
That all people who join the military are Republican.
I’m a Socialist and a military veteran. In fact, I was in the military and stationed in Germany when I decided socialism was for me. And I believe there are plenty of GMD regulars who are military veterans.
The assumption that military service = lifetime membership in the Republican Party has always irked me.