I have been working lately on promoting this site. In the course of doing so, I have come across some people that made me remember something… and that is, “we always forget to remember.”

The people I am talking about are troops, and their wives, and husbands, and kids. Mothers, Fathers, Uncles, Aunts, and on down the line.

So much I want to say, and so little space to say it. But, I will try to do it justice.

Right now the silence is deafening. Iraq and the news about our troops seems to not even exist, compared to what it has been, over the last few years. And I don’t think that the reasons WHY it is quiet make me very happy.

It is quiet because we have no CRAP for the media to peddle.

We have no GITMO news. We have no Fallujah news. We have no Abu Ghraib. We have no more stories about rape or shooting innocent people.

So- I guess… we just don’t have news about Iraq. At least, it appears that way…

Let me jump around a bit, to make a point.

In my house, I don’t pay much attention to the plumbing. Or the electrical. Pretty boring stuff, really. It just does what it is supposed to do. So, there is no “news” about my plumbing to report.

What we have seen over and over in Iraq is a news media that, as a group, and in general, was incredibly willing to report what was WRONG about our ‘plumbing’ in Iraq— now they are amazingly silent when it comes to our ‘plumbing’ in Iraq working well and properly.

The thing is though, our troops deserve to be treated better than plumbing. They are not a simple “utility” that we complain about when it does not work, and ignore when it does work.

What better can you expect from a Country that just wants a war to go away so they can go back to American Idol and Survivor. If ‘this’ Rome falls, it is going to be because of the apathy of pathetic people who forget what is important. And if you are sitting there reading this thinking to yourself “my gosh, what is going right in Iraq IS important to me, even when it is GOOD”, then I am glad to have awakened you. Unfortunately, the assholes who will let this Country slip into the abyss of apathy are he ones who are so busy watching American Idol that they cannot see the future of freedom at risk.

A veteran myself, I know that people join the military for a lot of different reasons. Some even find themselves in the position of going to war thinking “my GOD, I thought this was just a ticket to a College Education!”

For those who think such things and then drop out or refuse to fight, so sorry to have disappointed your pathetic patriotism “with conditions”.

Many others join for a lot of other reasons, but the main thing to remember is the oath they take, and what they put on the line for you. Even when things are relatively quiet, like now, they are dieing and fighting “over there” for YOU. And ME. And they have families, here, now, that are worrying and sacrificing DAILY in order for that to happen.

I feel as though I am rambling, but I guess I just felt that it was important to make a point.

In a pop world where utter crap can make and dominate the headlines, and bad news trumps good every time, I am ashamed that my Country does not do a better job of remembering that soldiers do amazing things under incredibly demanding circumstances for quite often NO real reward- and while they do this, they have many loved ones at home waiting and worrying and wondering about them.

Our press would jump into a 24/7 frenzy if there was news that our troops did something wrong. But let a situation like now be created, where they are winning and things are kind of “business as usual” each day, and we soon forget that to achieve that business as usual that people are putting their lives on the line.

We forget them like plumbing.

In war, even perfection and winning comes at GREAT risk of life and limb. And you can quote me on that- it is my own.

So when you go to bed tonight, as you brush your teeth and flush your toilet, remember that the only reason you never think of those things is because they work for you everyday as you would expect them to. The silence that you are allowed to enjoy is because so many are doing a great job, and willing to die or be injured doing it daily.

You get a great deal from the US military, and from those who sacrifice while their loved ones are abroad for you and I.

Respect it. Remember it.