Pimps in Our Midst

I have seen them in restaurants eating their lunch. They are well-dressed. Some of them are women. They have nice offices in shopping centers.

I’m talking about pimps, but not the sleazy, flashy, abusive kind who solicit those willing to hire themselves out to perform illicit acts for paying customers. Worse. The ones who look and act respectable while they solicit those willing to hire themselves out to perform illicit acts for paying customers.

The customers in this case being the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. And those hiring themselves out being soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.

Someone has to say it so it might as well be me. I’ve said worse.

I bring this up now because of an incident that happened earlier this year that I wanted to let play out.

Back in January, a woman posted on Twitter a video of a teacher criticizing the military:

Help me make this go viral. My friends son was sporting his marine sweater while this liberal douche teacher rants about the military. The school is called El rancho high school in the city of pico rivera california. The teacher’s name is MR. Salcido.

(I’m not on Twitter so I don’t know if capitalization, grammar, and punctuation rules are regularly ignored there.)

The teacher in question was Gregory Salcido. He graduated from El Rancho High, received his teaching certificate in 1999, and began teaching at his alma mater soon afterward. Salcido was also a longtime member of the Pico Rivera City Council, and even served as the city’s mayor in 2002, 2010, and 2015.

Because a student wore Marine Corps apparel to class, Salcido said: “Don’t you ever freaking bring the freaking military into this classroom. I don’t understand why we let the freaking military guys come over here and recruit you at school. We don’t let pimps come into school.” “Anyone interested in being a ho?” he said to the laughter of students. He then claimed that recruiters will “freaking lie” to students and called the rationale that some people join the military to offset the cost of college “bull freaking s**t.” Salcido also said that U.S. soldiers fighting overseas were “dumb s**ts” and “the freaking lowest of our low” in terms of their talent. “Think about the people who you know who are over there, your stupid, frickin’ Uncle Louie or whoever,” he said.

After the video did go viral, Salcido was put on unpaid administrative leave and his superintendent recommend that he be fired.

A Four-star general, David Perkins, went on Fox to “instruct” the teacher about how great the military is. Retired general John Kelly, Trump’s chief of staff, who is also in the video clip with Perkins, said that the teacher “ought to go to hell.” Eternal torment as a punishment for criticizing the military? That’s a first.

In March, Salcido was fired after an investigation was conducted that uncovered some disturbing things about him. The El Rancho Unified School District president announced Salcido’s dismissal at a school board meeting. Salcido has appealed his firing.

I make no apologies for Salcido’s language or behavior. I have no opinion on whether he should have been fired. And I don’t necessarily agree with his comments about the intellect or talent of U.S. soldiers. But what he said about military recruiters was absolutely correct.

Uncle Sam is seeking young men and women who are willing to hire themselves out to perform illicit acts for him. Things like invade countries, occupy countries, make widows and orphans, fight foreign wars, kill civilians, launch preemptive strikes, fight unjust wars, change regimes, nation building, fight immoral wars, police the world, intervene in other countries, fight unnecessary wars, take sides in civil wars, fight undeclared wars, and destroy foreign industry, culture, and infrastructure.

Military recruiters are the middlemen who help to facilitate this. They are the pimps in our midst. How else are you going to describe them? They pimp for Uncle Sam. That is their job. They try to convince recruits that military service is honorable. They extol the pay and benefits of military service. They do everything but tell the truth about war and the military.

Do military recruiters tell recruits about the horrors of war?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that the United States hasn’t declared war on a country since World War II?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they might die for a lie?
Do military recruiters tell recruits about just war theory?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they will be engaged in offense and not defense?
Do military recruiters tell recruits about the huge number of sexual assaults that occur in the military, including male on male assaults?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they will be part of the president’s personal attack force?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they might die in vain?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they will be defending other countries instead of the United States?
Do military recruiters tell recruits about all the hundreds of servicemen who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan and came home with their genitals missing?
Do military recruiters tell recruits about the troops who have died in training accidents?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they might be sent to countries that most Americans couldn’t locate on a map?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they might come home from overseas in a body bag?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they are not heroes just because they enlist?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they will be expected to obey orders unconditionally?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they might die for a mistake?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they will be sent to countries where they have no business going?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they might have to make widows and orphans?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they will be pawns in the hands of Uncle Sam to be moved around as he sees fit?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they might have to kill civilians?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that the bombs they drop might kill children?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they might come home with severe PTSD?
Do military recruiters tell recruits about the high suicide rate of veterans?
Do military recruiters tell recruits that they might suffer a traumatic brain injury and be dependent on their wife and children for the rest of their life?

Do military recruiters tell recruits these things? Of course not. It would be bad for business. Do pimps tell johns that they might get VD, get arrested, get blackmailed, or lose their family?

Shun the pimps in our midst.

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