No need to get defensive, folks. Just about everyone here has had strong statements to make, and you gotta expect pushback from the other side when you do that. Although, I will say I've seen threads like this devolve into personal insults and whatnot, which is one reason I weighed in on the side of keeping this stuff off SC.net way back when - but in '08 nobody could resist, the tradition went out the window, and as I have no particular stature around here it's not my place to make that call.
I will say that I think telling people who don't have military service and who live outside NYC that they have no right to opine on topics that involve every American is a little bit, um, what's the word...
Well, maybe just defensive. Think I'll stop now too. It's just not worth fighting over this stuff, particularly when I come here for fun, not think about stuff that consumes more of my time than I'd like on a day to day basis. Frankly, I know and like a lot of people whose opinions differ from mine, and it's no big deal, but I get that it is for some people.