Bud Day finds a new target for his smears

It's rare to find a sensible person, especially in the mainstream corporate media, in America's Taint™. The Pensacola News Journal just happens to employ one of them on their staff: Troy Moon.

This week, Troy went out on a bit of a limb -- at least by Pensacola standards, where the U.S. military is second only to Jesus Christ in community esteem -- by taking to task retired Air Force Col. George E. "Bud" Day. Col. Day, 84, a highly decorated Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor recipient, clearly has passed his expiration date: he took advantage of a speaking engagement in Pensacola to criticize our commander-in-chief and specifically the idea of health care reform.

Now, Col. Day, who resides in Pensacola, may have been a brave pilot and his patriotism is beyond reproach, but those attributes don't give him any more credibility in the health care debate than you and I have. It's unseemly at best -- and insulting at worst -- to use a veterans' event as a political forum against the president. And Troy Moon went after Col. Day for that:

Day used the speech to denounce President Obama's proposed health care program and had this to say: "People are not entitled to health care just because they're Americans. Who says some stranger on the street who has never put a penny into anything is entitled to medical care?''

Some people do say that. Maybe it's because they feel that America is the greatest country on earth and doesn't let any of its citizens fall through the cracks. Maybe it's because they so admire the military ethos that preaches that you leave no man or woman on the battlefield. Maybe they want to apply that philosophy to real life.

But Col. Day's comments made me think of our brave fighting forces today. You always hear people say "Freedom Isn't Free.'' And they're right. Freedom for all --- even Day's "stranger on the street'' "who has never put a penny into anything'' ---- is paid for by a few who defend it with blood and, often, their lives. It's not just for those who have invested into the "freedom'' system.

So Col. Day, brave men and women such as yourself have been paying the way for many of us for years. Maybe it's time for the rest of us to step up and do the same --- take care of others whether they deserve our consideration or not.

Once again, for those on the right who oppose health care for all Americans, it comes down to one thing: selfishness. It's the old "I've got mine, screw you" mentality.

It's not altogether surprising to see this from Col. Day, considering his involvement with the lying Swift Boaters in 2004 and the racist, xenophobic hate that he displayed in campaigning for John McCain last year. But it's still sad to see one of America's true military heroes forget -- or ignore -- what he was fighting for in the first place.