Disrespect at Arlington National Cemetery photo goes viral

That photo angers and disgusts me. How can anyone in their right mind POSSIBLY think that was a good idea?? >: ( I'm pleased that they've both been suspended without pay and I really hope they end up losing their jobs.

PS. Can I like that Facebook page even though I'm not a Veteran?
 
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I suppose someone has to put up a counter argument here even if I do think their actions were stupid I think the campaign against them is equally unhinged and over the top.

There is a huge difference between someone kicking over or defacing gravestones and someone pretending to shout at a sign on lawn.
Is what they did idiotic - Yes.
Is what they were doing childish - yep.
Is it something I would have done - No
Is what they did disrespectful - No, it was aimed at an innocuous sign at a national cemetery it is not like they were abusing the Lincoln Memorial.
What they deserve is to be told to F*** off and grow up not hung drawn and quartered by lynch mob because someone took offense to a photo on facebook.

In the end one of the things the people buried there fought for were the rights of the following generations to make fools of themselves.
 
wonder how they, and their ilk, would feel if THEY had actually taken part in their right to voice their opinion by serving their country.. and not have relied on another to put their life on the line so as they can be an azzhole.
 
m551sheridan said:
wonder how they, and their ilk, would feel if THEY had actually taken part in their right to voice their opinion by serving their country.. and not have relied on another to put their life on the line so as they can be an azzhole.
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But that is not part of the contract the freedoms that western nations have developed are not conditional on whether they are liked or not, if you only have the freedom to do what is socially acceptable and should you disagree or express dissent you will be hounded into submission or out of existence then you do not have those freedoms.

Had that logic prevailed we would still be handing over our pay cheques to churches and stoning heretics like Galileo, Newton and Darwin.
 
Lindsey Stone is now screwed for life. If you google "Lindsey Stone" nothing but the news reports show up. Good luck finding a job later on Ms. I-hate-america.
 
Yes she's a silly mare BUT does this really deserve such an outburst?

I really think that too many of us are getting wound up too easily by the stupid actions of a few mindless idiots.

I value freedom of speech and this is being underminded by people who over-react to mere words. I was bought up with the "sticks and stones can't beak my bones" thing.

We are getting over-sensitive to mere words and stupid thoughtless actions of a minority.

Just ignore the fools that do such things.

Here in the UK laws exist where it is possible to get arrested and locked up for merely insulting someone! Shocking stuff. These laws are now being used in ways they were never designed to be used and turned on the white middle class law abiding taxpayers. It's all about showing us whose boss...

The law which most concerns me is - Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.

It's now possible to get locked up for speaking the truth (as you see it).
 
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Sevens said:
That photo angers and disgusts me. How can anyone in their right mind POSSIBLY think that was a good idea?? >: ( I'm pleased that they've both been suspended without pay and I really hope they end up losing their jobs.

PS. Can I like that Facebook page even though I'm not a Veteran?
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yes......
 
Did you read the apology their daddies/former employer scripted for them? *eye roll* (I can post a link if you haven't.) They aren't sorry they did it, they're sorry they got caught. Welcome to the unemployment line, imbeciles.

From LIFE's Facebook page:

"We wish to announce that the two employees recently involved in the Arlington Cemetery incident are no longer employees of LIFE. Again, we deeply regret any disrespect to members of the military and their families. The incident and publicity has been very upsetting to the learning disabled population we serve. To protect our residents, any comments, however well-intentioned, will be deleted. We appreciate your concern and understanding as we focus on the care of our community."
 
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MontyB said:
But that is not part of the contract the freedoms that western nations have developed are not conditional on whether they are liked or not, if you only have the freedom to do what is socially acceptable and should you disagree or express dissent you will be hounded into submission or out of existence then you do not have those freedoms.

Had that logic prevailed we would still be handing over our pay cheques to churches and stoning heretics like Galileo, Newton and Darwin.
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I agree........ my point is if she had *someone* in that cemetery I highly doubt she would have acted that way........ there are just * some places* that you hold sacred, you do not violate it.
 
Is that it? The picture ? Was it stupid? Was it disrespectful? Yes... Did it do any actual harm ? No...

Maybe it only because I am removed from the whole ordeal but it seems to me to be a very harsh reaction. For something so stupid.
 
headwards said:
Who would try to ruin a womans life this hard over something this inconsequential? Very small minded people.
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Figured I would post this as I think it makes a couple of good points...

Leave Lindsey Stone Alone
Posted: 11/21/2012 1:15 pm

Anybody who's kept up with me on my site or here knows that I have a habit of defending people who say really dumb things, particularly if those dumb things were intended to get a laugh. The issue as far as I'm concerned isn't that you shouldn't expect to face criticism if you say or do something that could easily be perceived as offensive -- it's simply that, with the rise of the internet as a global forum for shaming, retribution and general piling-on, the backlash to a perceived offense is usually so loud and so organized these days that it in short order winds up being anything but a proportional response.
Case in point, America's newest internet pariah: Lindsey Stone.
If you've missed out on this "controversy" over the past few weeks let me bring you up to speed. Last month, Stone, an average citizen from Massachusetts, visited the Tomb of the Unknown soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. While there, she took a photo of herself standing next to a sign that asks visitors to observe "Silence and Respect." So far, so good -- except that Stone thought it would be a clever idea to pose as if she were yelling at the sign and flipping it off, obviously showing neither silence nor respect. Then, of course, because she's apparently possessed of a breathtaking lack of judgment, Stone decided to go home and post the picture on Facebook. The backlash was almost instantaneous.
To Stone's credit, she immediately copped to being an insensitive ass and issued what appeared to be a pretty genuine apology to those who were infuriated by the lack of respect to our fallen military members on display in the photo; she said she was making a bad joke and that no real offense was intended. That did little to quell the snowball of outrage that of course began rolling downhill immediately and which became an unstoppable force in no time at all. The picture was quickly circulated beyond the few Facebook friends she'd intended to see it, no doubt by a concerned citizen whose insatiable need to get upset over every little goddamned thing vastly outweighs his or her desire to have an actual life, and a couple of days ago came the inevitable: a Facebook page called "Fire Lindsey Stone," which aims to hector her employer, LIFE, a Cape Cod-based non-profit that helps adults with learning disabilities, into relieving her of her job. It's got more than 12,000 "likes" so far.
To read this Facebook page is to come face-to-face with the worst kind of psychotic rage the internet has to offer. There's everything from the guy who aims, I guess, to teach Lindsey Stone all about respect and understanding by calling her a "****in ****"; the people posting her private phone number; the guy who says he'd be willing to "pull the trigger" on her; and of course the oodles of partisan jerks who've seized the opportunity, as they do any opportunity, to turn the whole thing into a left-vs.-right battle, with Stone obviously being a dirty liberal who doesn't love our troops with the predetermined but entirely arbitrary amount of zeal necessary to, well, avoid being called a dirty liberal.
Look, I hate to bring back another bad internet meme, but leave Lindsey alone. She did something really stupid and has apologized for it. End of story. It's nobody's God-given right, and certainly not 12,000 people's, to teach this woman a lesson that involves having her livelihood taken away just because she made a joke not everyone is going to find funny and some will find offensive. The response, as I alluded to earlier, is almost unimaginably disproportionate to the offense. I get that this is where we're at as a culture: nobody can ever be offended by anything and when we are we demand satisfaction and immediately marshal our forces via the internet, seeking out like-minded, easily inflamed morons willing to wield social media torches and pitchforks in a virtual riot. But that virtual riot has real-world consequences, and reducing a complete stranger to a single moment of bad judgment and then insisting she pay for it with her very livelihood, the thing that keeps her paying bills and rent and continuing to eat and perhaps feeding her family -- that's what's truly offensive.
A while back, a friend of mine and I were having beers on a Saturday afternoon -- probably too many, to be honest -- and, as is our nature, we decided to play a little game, the goal of which was to come up with the simplest statement or product that would conversely offend the widest swath of people. After quite a bit of back and forth, we hit on it: one of those magnetic ribbons for the back of your car that reads "**** the Troops." Do we really have a hatred for America's fighting men and women? No, of course not; my dad was a Navy SEAL, for Christ's sake, and I have an immense respect for him and anyone else who's served this country. The point was merely that an unwavering respect for our military has become possibly the most sacrosanct position our culture has ever produced and, strangely, agreed upon; even more than taking a shot at, say, Jesus, insulting our troops is the one line you simply don't cross, not if you want to continue feeling safe walking outside your front door. Obviously, as such, our bad joke remained just that -- a bad joke, one that never left that pitcher-cluttered table until right now. But the idea, even in our drunken state, was to shatter an oppressive taboo that had become a politically correct article of faith. Besides, there's almost always something funny about going too far.
Lindsey Stone made a bad joke, supposedly at the expensive of our troops although not really, and is now being made to pay for it in ways she probably never imagined. Her life has been turned upside down and there are people calling for her job and her head and basically threatening her life. To those people, I'd say: enough, already. You made your point. You've taught her the lesson that you believe you're entitled to teach her -- now leave her the hell alone. Go find something else to be furious about. I guarantee you won't have to look very hard.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chez-pazienza/leave-lindsey-stone-alone_b_2171131.html


I guess I should wait for the Veterans against Chez Pazienza page now?
 
captiva303 said:
Is that it? The picture ? Was it stupid? Was it disrespectful? Yes... Did it do any actual harm ? No...

Maybe it only because I am removed from the whole ordeal but it seems to me to be a very harsh reaction. For something so stupid.
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I am totally in agreement.

I admit that at first I was somewhat outraged at her amazing stupidity, but I guess I have done things at least as stupid, at some time in my past.

In view of the disproportionate response that pages like Facebook bring, I feel that she will have learned a very valuable lesson.
 
senojekips said:
I am totally in agreement.

I admit that at first I was somewhat outraged at her amazing stupidity, but I guess I have done things at least as stupid, at some time in my past.

In view of the disproportionate response that pages like Facebook bring, I feel that she will have learned a very valuable lesson.
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simple question.... I am sure your country and others have a very special monument to your own *unknowns*........
as in all wars sometimes a soldier just turns into *mist* and all that can be found is maybe a part of a foot... or a tanker who burns for a couple of days after being inside a vehicle that has been cooking off its ammunition... again, only pieces.

We honor ALL these soldiers, and all the mothers who will never know, by such a shrine.......... how would YOU react if this were done at your countries tomb of the unknown?
 
Well have had people some what regularly deface our war memorials. By either vandalism or in one occasion some one actually pissed on our eternal flame. Extinguishing it. These people get dealt with by the law and a ridiculed and shamed by the media. Yet they weren't set upon in such a personal way... Maybe we are just numb.

So to my mind giving a sign the finger seems fairly harmless.
 
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