ThinksGiving: ThinkProgress Reader Jon Soltz
ThinksGiving: ThinkProgress Reader Jon Soltz
Our guest blogger is Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org and veteran of the Iraq war.
Every day, I keep a number of blogs open on my browser that I constantly refresh. I don’t want to cast too much praise on one blog over the other (they’re all good and all important), but ThinkProgress is one of the blogs I check the most.
For me, ThinkProgress truly has been my go-to for almost instantaneous news updates and thoughtful analysis, especially on Iraq, military and veterans’ issues. Additionally, besides some pesky trolls, the comment threads are essential in letting me know what issues are well understood by the majority of people, and which could use some additional explanation, from groups like the one I represent, VoteVets.org.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think so fondly of ThinkProgress because it’s one of the few blogs that consistently gives the veterans of VoteVets.org a place to air out their views. It’s not just that posts like that help out VoteVets.org as a group, but it allows the voice of America’s veterans to be heard and amplified. That is crucial when we’re talking about a time when less than a percent of the total population knows what it’s like to fight in the current wars.
It’s to all of our benefit that ThinkProgress stick around for a long, long, long time. For its on-the-ball news coverage and analysis, its ability to stoke discussion and debate, and its willingness to promote many diverse voices, ThinkProgress has truly become one of the premiere, must-read blogs around.
I hope you’ll join me in donating here to help keep ThinkProgress strong, for years to come.
To contribute, simply click on this icon:
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Thank for your service to this country, sir. It is always interesting when
November 14th, 2007 at 2:39 pmyou visit KO on Countdown.
I like Solz because he always keeps his cool in interviews, even when being attacked.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:44 pmWell put. Thanks for your honest views.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:45 pmI like Solz because he always keeps his cool in interviews, even when being attacked.
Comment by Wilco — November 14, 2007 @ 2:44 pm
So do I. I wish more people practiced being the bigger man. This is also why I find small man, and minded, ranting pundits, and emotion driven trolls, so easy to ignore.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:49 pmThank you for your service in the military, and your continued service in civilian life. You are a true American patriot.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:49 pmKeep it up, Jon. Keep telling them what they don’t want to hear, keep calling them out on their crap and keep letting the insults roll off your back.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:49 pmJon, thank you for your service and special thanks for speaking out against an unjust, illegal war in Iraq.
Your service makes you an American hero.
Your stance on democcracy & freedom makes you my hero.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:51 pmThanks John! Here’s some news that no one is talking about that you might want to use in your next interview. The public needs to know this, especially now that Bush is asking for $50 billion more in funding!
America Could Have Killed Usama bin Laden — But Didn’t
By Col. David Hunt, Oct. 07
…We know, with a 70 percent level of certainty — which is huge in the world of intelligence — that in August of 2007, bin Laden was in a convoy headed south from Tora Bora. We had his butt, on camera, on satellite. We were listening to his conversations. We had the world’s best hunters/killers — Seal Team 6 — nearby. We had the world class Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) coordinating with the CIA and other agencies. We had unmanned drones overhead with missiles on their wings; we had the best Air Force on the planet, begging to drop one on the terrorist. We had him in our sights; we had done it. Nice job again guys — now, pull the damn trigger.
Unbelievably, and in my opinion, criminally, we did not kill Usama bin Laden.
You cannot make this crap up; truth is always stranger and more telling than fiction. Our government, the current administration and yes, our military leaders included, failed to kill bin Laden for no other reason than incompetence.
Full story:
November 14th, 2007 at 2:55 pmhttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,304306,00.html
You’re doing a great job, Mr. Soltz!
November 14th, 2007 at 2:59 pmTell em to Support the Troops - ALL the troops!
#8 Jon, sorry I misspelled your name in my post #8.
My point in posting this story is why should we give Bush $50 billion more when he could’ve killed Bin Ladin for the price of one bullet but didn’t. This should be the story everyone is talking about.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:02 pmJon, thanks for your service to the country.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:02 pmThanks for what you do for our military personnel and for all of us.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:03 pmThank you Jon. You are a great American.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:09 pmOk, since you seem to be doing a better job getting rid of the annoying trolls, I made my donation as a way of saying thanks and to support this site.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:11 pmThanks Jon for standing strong against fierce opposition. Keep fighting the good fight.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:13 pmAnd to think Mr. Soltz would have been banned from a Vetern’s Day parade…
November 14th, 2007 at 3:22 pmYou’re doing a tough job Jon and America thanks you for it.
Buck Fush
November 14th, 2007 at 3:28 pmJon – you’re one of my heroes! Keep up the very good – and very important – work of giving America’s vets a real voice.
Thank you from the heart.
- A
November 14th, 2007 at 3:30 pmIs that a photo of Jon Soltz in his US Armed Services uniform? Isn’t Mr. Soltz quite clear about US Armed Services regulations on improper use of the uniform?
November 14th, 2007 at 3:41 pm19,
Have your vision checked before you open your piehole.
Where do you think the picture was taken?
Furthermore, if you want to slam Vets, this is definitely not the place.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:50 pmThank you for your continuing service to our endangered nation.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:56 pmIs that a photo of Jon Soltz in his US Armed Services uniform? Isn’t Mr. Soltz quite clear about US Armed Services regulations on improper use of the uniform?
Comment by gabriel sutherland — November 14, 2007 @ 3:41 pm
It appears he’s on the job, dingleberry.
Thanks for everything, Jon, this country needs more people like you.
November 14th, 2007 at 4:24 pmLike G sutherland would know what regulations even mean. Her regulations are lazing through the day and picking up a paycheck before driving her SUV and filling up with blood gas….blood Jon and his men spilled for her gas.
November 14th, 2007 at 4:31 pm#30 – you should read the sick garbage being written about our men and women who are suffering and taking their own lives on the latest post.
November 14th, 2007 at 4:47 pmAgain, there appears to be no depth to which Bush cultists will not stoop in defense of their silly little aristocratic punk. They should be ashamed of themselves, but sociopaths, by nature, know no shame.
November 14th, 2007 at 5:24 pmSouthern Man,
I can’t speak for Jon Soltz, but I want ALL of the troops home from Iraq, no matter what their political leanings might be, or whether or not they support the war. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jon felt the same.
Jon Soltz is a hero because he speaks truth to power, and it doesn’t matter if you like him or not.
November 14th, 2007 at 5:37 pmMr. Soltz I can’t thank you enough for all the good things you’ve done.
Have you been in contact with all of these guys?
http://dkosopedia.com/wiki/Fighting_Dems%2C_2008
Even more importantly have you been in contact with
Philip Forgit?
http://dkosopedia.com/wiki/Philip_Forgit
November 14th, 2007 at 5:48 pmComment by Southern Man — November 14, 2007 @ 5:52 pm
I’ll answer tour inane question: no, I don’t appreciate the tools that won’t stop and think of the reasons they are in uniform, to uphold and defend the Constitution, and to defend the United States against foreign enemies, neither of which is being done in Iraq at this time. Nobody should join the military under Republican administrations; they will only be used to enrich arms dealers and corrupt oilmen. Many of the soldiers in active service currently are obeying illegal orders and are merely being used to break international law.
Any other stupid, obvious questions? and why aren’t you over there?
November 14th, 2007 at 6:30 pmI was only asking a question. Which won’t be answered.
Comment by Southern Man — November 14, 2007 @ 5:52 pm
I guess you really have no way of knowing that, do you?
November 14th, 2007 at 6:44 pmWell, damn, I’m gonna have to split my bonus this year between TP and C&L. I hope Amato is cool with that. LOL.
November 14th, 2007 at 9:14 pmSouthern Man — November 14, 2007 @ 5:52 pm
To answer your question:
I disagree with them, and I sort of pity them, but respect them a lot more then those cowards who cheer for war and yet seem strangely absent when it comes time to fight that war.
While the soldier on the front lines is likely to be more in favour of the current administration due to the propaganda that is fed them on a daily basis by a military command structure which has been turned overwhelmingly Republican by an administration hell bent on turning all government posts political (Note FEMA as an example of this) his views show a lot more courage then those of some chickenhawk who is only too willing to claim toughness is sacrificing the lives of others.
As to whether I trust the soldier on the ground’s opinions? Like I said, they have very limited access to information out in the field.
When they get back and have had a few months to find out what is happening, how veterans are treat by the Republicans, how little the war really means to America and how much it costs, how much they have lost by being in it, then lets hear their opinions.
November 15th, 2007 at 5:44 am