god bless those magnetic ribbons. they're doing so much for us as a nation, and helping our armed forces know we support them to boot. did you know that each and every magnetic "support our troops" ribbon has a tiny camera embedded in it with a satellite uplink, so that the troops we're doing so much to support get to see the smiling faces of those they are fighting for every day? it's really remarkable how much money and effort the government and the private sector are willing to put into our troops comfort.

wait a minute. the proceeds from those ribbons don't go to the troops at all, do they? they go into some clever bastard's pocket (and the pockets of all the less clever bastards who followed his lead). putting a ribbon on your car doesn't really support our troops at all, does it? even flying your flag high won't help the war effort, will it? the ribbon on my car says "support the magnetic ribbon industry," and my brother the marine thinks that's hilarious. we as americans (i said we, so me too) are great at making a show of our patriotism, but not so good at actually acting on it. we'll spend seven dollars on a ribbon that says we support our troops that does no good at all, but if the truth be told, our troops would be better served if each of us sent them seven dollars so they could start saving for some proper body armor. true, rumsfeld won't allow them to wear non-military supplied body armor (or spend enough to get them the official gear), but it would be a start. perhaps they wouldn't have to spend their spare time welding plates to humvees if we really did support them.
the senate might as well have one enormous magnetic ribbon on it that says "we're rooting for you guys!" god damn, i hate (most) politicians, the self serving bastards.

but at least i have jack.