I asked my 8yo and she said we won a war. When I asked who we fought in the war she could not answer but when I asked who did we want to be "independent" from, both my 8yo and 10yo next to her answered correctly in unison.

I have no business throwing rocks from my glass house when it comes to grammar. It just gets me when I hear and see people who are representing exactly how I feel but do it with poor grammar, bad spelling, and sometimes bad manners. I'm not talking about you Bille; there are much worse out there. Your post just caught me at a bad moment.

I am certainly not an English teacher or banker. I was a crypto-linguist in the USAF (enlisted). I'm retired now doing other work for the government. I did ALOT of work with the Army, some with the Coast Guard. It was a very "joint" job. I once spent 6 weeks on a merchant marine vessel. It was fun in its own special way but I couldn't imagine doing the 6 to 9 months most of the Navy guys were doing. I deployed to Iraq on a WIT team as part of the surge. I got shot at a hell of a lot more than I was able/allowed to shoot back. Seeing what is going on there now makes my heart ache to the point words could never describe.

I see what is going on in America. I wouldn't necessarily call them "greedy thieves", it's more like "lazy, self-entitled, irresponsible cretins". All we can do is get out there and vote and get others to vote. We don't do that by going on rampages of half-truths that only make the current system seem more legitimate. That's why I sit and shake my head as I read some of the garbage written by people who feel the same as I do but are just so extreme about it. Extremism, whether right or left, will never change any hearts or minds.

I honestly hope we can all get out and do some sailing soon so that we have better things to discuss rather than politics. I can't help but look like I bit a lemon anytime someone want to talk politics.

Anyway Bille, Happy Forth of July, from one vet to another.