"The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved." -- Confucius

Monday, November 15, 2004

This just in from the Department of STFU...

Military Bases Warned on Boy Scouts

(AP) CHICAGO - The Pentagon has agreed to warn military bases worldwide that they should not directly sponsor Boy Scout troops, partially resolving claims that the government has improperly supported a group that requires members to believe in God.

What the fuck, over? And what rocket surgeon made this claim?

The settlement, announced Monday, came in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which says American military units have sponsored hundreds of Boy Scout troops.

Oh for crying out loud. Don't you schmucks have anything better to do than to screw around with the Boy Scouts? Having been both a Scout and a soldier this annoys me. If any two groups would benefit from a symbiotic relationship, it would be the military and Scouts.

Oddly enough, it's not in the direction you might think. It's the Scouts that can show our soldiers a thing or two that can come in handy in the field. I know knowing the stuff I'd learned in Scouts helped immensely when I moved on to the military. Old joke: What's the difference between the Army and the Boy Scouts? The Army doesn't have adult supervision.

No doubt the influence and positive role models coming from the military end of the relationship would be great for the Scouts as well. And heck, since Robert Baden-Powell, a British veteran, modeled the Scouts after the military to begin with, it makes the ACLU's arguments look sillier than they normally do.

Bear in mind, this is coming from a guy who not only was a Scout from the time he was old enough to join the Cubs and left shortly after turning 18. A guy who firmly believes in the separation of church and state. A guy who firmly believes the 1954 "... under God" revision of the Pledge of allegiance is unconstitutional. A guy who firmly believes "E Pluribus Unum" should once again be our nation's motto, not "In God We Trust" (also changed in the 1950s). A guy who firmly believes "In God We Trust" shouldn't be printed on our currency (changed in the 1850s). And a guy who firmly believes Scouting is good for kids and that the leftists that hate Scouting (mostly, no doubt, because it teaches self-sufficiency) should leave Scouts and Scouting the hell alone.