I already celebrated Veterans Day on Nov 5th

Actually, I started celebrating as the results started coming in on Nov. 4th. As did many other Veterans I have come to know through various political actions. And, as did many of the soldiers I know that still serve, today. Of course, the soldiers that still serve today were not given access to the media to share their reactions to the election results.

On a night like no other when America’s open and democratic virtues were put on worldwide display, an ill-advised policy within the Department of Defense proclaimed to servicemembers and the news media alike: “No you can’t.” What a servicemember and a journalist couldn’t do, the policy drafters ordered, was engage in conversation on a military base as the returns from a momentous election rolled in.

Stars and Stripes’ plans for providing news of Tuesday’s election started out with a new and seemingly innocent twist, tied to the opportunities of the new media. Reporters were to go to the common areas of bases and observe the reaction of servicemembers as the voting was tallied and shown on TV and the Internet. They were then to file to Stripes’ Web site, via “twitter,” an electronic form for sending brief, staccato messages.

Can't have the soldiers be seen celebrating a very liberal change in direction for America on their own personal time, can we? That might embarrass and shame the elitist, Neoconservative warmongering class that were seriously smacked around at the ballot boxes.

January 20th, 2009, can not come soon enough!