A letter from Ben Stein (700 hits)
Category: NoneRating: -0.25 on 9 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by STANDARD D II (View user info) at 2006-04-17 04:09:54 EDT
I just recieved this through my Army e-mail and thought I would pass it on. I know this is an e-mail and not "original work" but I was just really impressed that he spent enough time and effort to get this sent to every military member. Enjoy
Greetings From Rancho Mirage - by Ben Stein
4/5/2006
Dear Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, National Guard, Reservists, in Iraq, in the Middle East theater, in Afghanistan, in the area near Afghanistan, in any base anywhere in the world, and your families:
Let me tell you about why you guys own about 90 percent of the cojones in the whole world right now and should be damned happy with yourselves and damned proud of who you are. It was a dazzlingly hot day here in Rancho Mirage today. I did small errands like going to the bank to pay my mortgage, finding a new bed at a price I can afford, practicing driving with my new 5 wood, paying bills for about two hours.
I spoke for a long time to a woman who is going through a nasty child custody fight. I got e-mails from a woman who was fired today from her job for not paying attention. I read about multi-billion-dollar mergers in Europe, Asia, and the Mideast. I noticed how overweight I am, for the millionth time.
In other words, I did a lot of nothing. Like every other American who is not in the armed forces family, I basically just rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic in my trivial, self-important, meaningless way.
Above all, I talked to a friend of more than forty-three years who told me he thought his life had no meaning because all he did was count his money.
And, friends in the armed forces, this is the story of all of America today. We are doing nothing but treading water while you guys carry on the life or death struggle against worldwide militant Islamic terrorism. Our lives are about nothing: paying bills, going to humdrum jobs, waiting until we can go to sleep and then do it all again. Our most vivid issues are trivia compared with what you do every day, every minute, every second.
Oprah Winfrey talks a lot about "meaning" in life. For her, "meaning" is dieting and then having her photo on the cover of her magazine every single month (surely a new world record for egomania ).This is not "meaning."
Meaning is doing for others. Meaning is risking your life for others. Meaning is putting your bodies and families' peace of mind on the line to defeat some of the most evil, sick killers the world has ever known. Meaning is leaving the comfort of home to fight to make sure that there still will be a home for your family and for your nation and for free men and women everywhere.
Look, soldiers and Marines and sailors and airmen and Coast Guardsmen, there are eight billion people in this world. The whole fate of this world turns on what you people, 1.4 million, more or less, do every day. The fate of mankind depends on what about 2/100 of one percent of the people in this world do every day -- and you are those people. And joining you is every policeman, fireman, and EMT in the country, also holding back the tide of chaos.
Do you know how important you are? Do you know how indispensable you are? Do you know how humbly grateful any of us who has a head on his shoulders is to you?
Do you know that if you never do another thing in your lives, you will always still be heroes? That we could live without Hollywood or Wall Street or the NFL, but we cannot live for a week without you?
We are on our knees to you and we bless and pray for you every moment.
And Oprah Winfrey, if she were a size two, would not have one millionth of your importance, and all of the Wall Street billionaires will never mean what the least of you do, and if Barry Bonds hit ninety home runs it would not mean as much as you going on one patrol or driving one truck to the Baghdad airport.
You are everything to us, as we go through our little days, and you are in the prayers of the nation and of every decent man and woman on the planet.
That's who you are and what you mean. I hope you know that.
Love, Ben Stein
User Reviews
Submitted by Fartman (user info) at 2006-04-18 13:42:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
This -2 is for whoever wrote this piece of crap, not the poster.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-04-17 14:20:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
BUELLER....?
BUELLER....?
BUELLER....?
Submitted by FilthyAssistant (user info) at 2006-04-17 11:27:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Well, it's a nice email - I'd certainly sit back and smile if someone told me I was one of the most important people in the world. I don't agree with it though - entering into the military is an agreement to kill people for money. It's about as noble as being a hitman. They pump you full of this 'balls of steel' shit because they know they're giving you an incredibly bum deal - you lay down your life and the lives of others without question for ideals that are only ever vaguely defined and a wider plan that is always kept secret from you. That may be bravery, but it's tempered with a large dose of stupidity.
Submitted by Grimm (user info) at 2006-04-17 10:48:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
And I read it again and have to give it another -2.
I hate politics on Uber, but at the same time want to point out that you can support the men and women in the military and still entirely dissaprove of their mission, planning, support, command structure, operational execution, shades of green used in clothing, and general frame of mind.
Submitted by OneCheapGeek (user info) at 2006-04-17 10:27:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
This -2 is because the poster actually believed that Ben Stein wrote it and sent to everyone in the military.
More proof that the military preys on the dumb.
Submitted by Grimm (user info) at 2006-04-17 08:57:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I know!! I'll write a stupid fucking email message supporting the troops and say that it's from Ben Stein this way people will think that if a smart guy wrote it, it must be true!! It doesnt matter if its just another peice of propaganda designed to blur the line between support of armed forces and support of the Bush administration - it's the guy from the GAME SHOW!!!! ON TELEVISION!!! OMFG!!!!
This -2 is for whoever wrote this peice of crap, not the poster.
Submitted by modernpost (user info) at 2006-04-17 08:28:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Oh for fuck's sake! What a war-mongering cunt.
Submitted by sealclubber (user info) at 2006-04-17 06:30:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
What the fuck....I check my AKO nearly every day and never got one of these....
Submitted by FunnyAsCancer (user info) at 2006-04-17 04:32:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I thought Ben Stein was quasiabnormally intelligent. After all, he did have his own trivia show where the contestants had to be smarter than him...
So why eight billion people? Last I checked, we hadn't even reached seven.