Lance Corporal Edward Schroeder was setting out for another
day of duty in Iraq when his vehicle met with a roadside bomb. He and 13 other
members of his unit lost their lives on that day. That attack happened this week
and was the deadliest single attack since the war started.

Christ Mattews had the parents of the late Edward Schroeder
on Hardball Thursday night (view the clip at
Crooks and Liars).
These parents have suffered the ultimate sacrifice that can be asked of citizens
of a nation at war. Not only were they speaking on behalf of the memory of their
son, but they were also speaking on facts from the ground that they heard from
him. These people deserved our utmost attention in this interview while still
going through the grieving process.

Sadly, certain bloggers on the right do not feel the same
way. They feel that Hardball was turned into a political platform and “liberal
whining”. One blog in particular,
The
Political Teen, has chosen to waste his server space and bandwidth on the
internet to discredit this fallen hero’s memory. Incidentally, I wanted to leave
a comment on the blog, but he has closed them as it seems there is a consensus
of disappointment in the way he portrayed this interview.

For the first time in the history of our nation we are war
while being given tax breaks. The brave men and women of our military were
called upon to do the hardest of duties. They have been sent to war. They return
from war, only to find veteran benefits are cut and the promises they were to
come home to have been broken. They do this, yet we sit here and reap benefits
from their sacrifice.

It is sad that we can ask this of our soldiers, yet the
American people can not even fork over a little extra in taxes to make sure
these soldiers get what they have been promised. It is beyond sad, it is
inexcusable. We understand our freedom is not given to us carte blanche. We must
earn it, and the American people should have no gripes about paying a little
extra to ensure their freedom – after all, that is what we get told this war is
about.

Even worse is the fact that when two people loose their son
in the war, they can not speak out about it without neo-cons going on a smear
campaign. These little neo-con robots need to get off their lazy asses and
support the war their President has started. Instead of sitting in the safety of
mommy and daddies home smearing the parents of a fallen soldier, I suggest
getting up and heading down to the local recruiter. Show us that this war is
worth it and that you support it no questions asked. Our nation needs a few more
soldiers, so you are the ones that can rise to the calling.

Ian Schwartz, I am challenging you to head off to the
military. You feel like you are doing your country a service by blogging, when
in fact you are dishonoring the memory of our fallen soldiers. We have a right
to question our leaders. Even more, the parents of Edward Schroeder sure as hell
earned that right more than anyone this week, and the least we can do as
Americans is listen. That is not just my opinion, but also has been a shared
view throughout history:

To announce that there must be no criticism of the
president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not
only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American
public.

That was said by Theodore Roosevelt in 1918. That quote
holds so true in our country today, and the people questioning the motivations
of a President who lied our way into an unjust war are the truest of patriots
next to the ones who are serving the calling of their nation.