To the editor:

In this campaign season I am seeing much ballyhoo about the supporting of the troops.

The other day I saw a sign that said “Island County Republicans support the troops.”

I was a little confused by this slogan because the standard bearer of the Republican Party stated that he would veto any new GI bill for the 21st century as it was too costly. The toady apparent, McCain, agreed, adding that if it were “too easy after a tour of duty to get a college education we may not be able to keep enough soldiers in the services.”

This doesn’t sound like support for the troops. This sounds like cynical manipulation of poor human beings that might look to the military out of economic desperation as “a way out of here.”

This Republican administration has blocked most every troop support measure that has come up for a vote. I won’t even get into sending them into harm’s way because this Republican administration lied. They have cut VA funding at every opportunity. They have been changing the rules used to diagnose troop health problems, deeming injured troops as OK for another tour of duty.

This Republican machine has so crippled the military that recruitment is down to the point where troops are “stop-lossed” and sent for another tour of duty in a country where 80-plus percent of the Iraqi people want them gone and close to 80 percent of the people in America want them home.

I will say this for the Republicans, I suspect they buy more magnets that say “I support the troops” than any other political party. I guess if, like Bush and McCain, you repeat a slogan often enough, then it must be true, even if it’s a lie.

Dan Freeman

Clinton