Army National Guard propaganda

I went to the movies with B yesterday after not having a date out in months due to our busy work schedules. We got there during the "20" or first look or whatever they're calling those commercials before they start showing previews. Typically, they advertise food, drink, anti-smoking, and new TV shows. But this day they also showed an "advertisement/recruitment" piece for the Army National Guard which featured Kid Rock (insert me rolling my eyes here), Nascar (insert gagging noises here), American parades, and images from what is presumably the war on Iraq. Needless to say, most of the "soldiers" were White guys who supposedly liked (a) Kid Rock, (b) Nascar, (c) little kids, (d) and fighting rich people's wars. 

I could hardly sit still without screaming out at the screen at this piece of shameless, disgusting propaganda. First of all, though no doubt most of our soldiers are "family" oriented (e.g., the little kids, a topic for another day) and feel grateful to live in the U.S. (as I do), they are not the kinds of low lifes who listen to Kid Rock. I'll not touch Nascar for now, but only say that I have men and women in my immediate family who serve in the Air National Guard and have been to Iraq, Guantanamo, and various other places over the last decade or so. The truth of the matter about my people is that they are in the Guard because it pays a living, because they started out in life struggling, and now they have mouths to feed. Because they worked at grocery stores, WalMart, and wanted to do something more meaningful. Did they believe war or "serving your country" was more meaningful? Perhaps. But more importantly they were sold on the biggest lie going in the military, and that is the "job skills" you're supposed to gain. Perhaps privileged kids who get to go to college or such before they become active duty, they may get marketable job skills so that they are not forever trapped into military servitude. But for the hundreds of thousands of working class and poor kids of every color, entering military life is akin to entering Hotel California. Kid Rock can sing all day about what a glorious service it is, but the truth is that it is glorified indentured servitude for the most vulnerable young people in the U.S.