re: #36 Targetpractice

And what do I say when a wingnut suggests that Bergdahl being cleared of being a collaborator is not the same as being cleared of intent to do so? His buddies say he went to join the Taliban, this doesn’t disprove that, it just says that when he found them, they decided he made a better prisoner than a buddy.

I don’t know what you would or should say, I only know what I would say: “When you have FACTS—sworn statements, not gossip/hearsay—proving beyond a reasonable doubt that he left voluntarily with the intent to join the Taliban, then I’ll condemn him for that, but not one fucking second before.

He’s an American soldier who was in a combat zone, therefore he deserves at least as much ‘innocent until proven guilty’ leeway as we afford our garden variety pimps, drug dealers, gangsters, rapists, pedophiles, etc.”

Oh, and about his so called “buddies”? There were several military bases in my hometown, so I dealt with a LOT of military people during the course of my many years as a taxi driver. I assure you that they’re just as prone to gossip, backbiting, spite, envy, bigotry and all the other human shortcomings as the rest of us. IOW, I’m not taking their word for something that could cost another soldier his freedom until the Army tells me their stories have been verified.

I’m not going to budge on this no matter what anyone here says or what any wingnut may think or say.