Sensitive Veterans

I don't want to waste too much time on this flag burning thing, but I did have one other thought. Anti-flag-burning measures are usually justified as a way of showing respect for veterans. So I started thinking about Republican policy toward the military.

Things Republicans are not willing to do for our soldiers and veterans: provide them with armor, increase their pay, provide decent health care, protect them from bankruptcy, keep promises about how long they'll be deployed to Iraq.

Things Republicans are willing to do for our soldiers and veterans: protect them from having to serve alongside gays and lesbians, shield them from an extremely rare form of symbolic protest.

I notice a pattern. Republicans don't seem interested in anything that would substantively improve the lives of our soldiers and veterans, but they're all over anything that would protect their delicate sensibilities against being offended.