Bumper Sticker: "If you can't stand behind our troops, you should stand in front of them"

[Stevicus]

Saw this on a bumper sticker yesterday. (It was on an F150.) I find that a lot of people around here put bumper stickers on their cars to air their political views. Some people have a lot of bumper stickers, both left and right wing.

I don't really mind bumper stickers. At least it gives me something to read while stuck at a red light.

A lot of bumper stickers and decals are sports related, and since I live in Wildcat Country, those are the majority of stickers.

Some bumper stickers seem deliberately provocative, such as the one quoted in the title. It's tantamount to saying "those who are not with us are against us." It suggests that if people don't support the military no matter what, they should be shot. So much for the "fight for freedom."

 

[Polymath257]

I have one of my own design that says 'Think & Care'.

 

[tytlyf]

RW media teaches their audience that democrats hate the military and don't support them. The audience believes this and then gets paranoid/angry. Examples aren't used. (I'm assuming this is related to the NFL ordeal where GOP media is telling everyone the players don't support the military).

The kneeling has nothing to do with military support

 

[Falvlun]

Some bumper stickers seem deliberately provocative, such as the one quoted in the title. It's tantamount to saying "those who are not with us are against us." It suggests that if people don't support the military no matter what, they should be shot. So much for the "fight for freedom."

I actually just saw this bumper sticker too. Like most witty political slogans, it falls apart on reflection.

Personally, I think it primarily hinges on a misunderstanding— or more charitably, a disagreement— on what it means to support our troops. I imagine someone with this sort of bumper sticker believes that being against wars or for lower military spending means that you don’t support the troops. I think this is a dangerous ideology in general: if we put our military above criticism then who really is in control here? I can respect and support our men and women in the military without having to agree with everything they do.

 

[bobhikes]

Saw this on a bumper sticker yesterday. (It was on an F150.) I find that a lot of people around here put bumper stickers on their cars to air their political views. Some people have a lot of bumper stickers, both left and right wing.

I don't really mind bumper stickers. At least it gives me something to read while stuck at a red light.

A lot of bumper stickers and decals are sports related, and since I live in Wildcat Country, those are the majority of stickers.

Some bumper stickers seem deliberately provocative, such as the one quoted in the title. It's tantamount to saying "those who are not with us are against us." It suggests that if people don't support the military no matter what, they should be shot. So much for the "fight for freedom."

To me that bumper sticker is not understandable. If I don't stand behind our troops(physically), why would I stand in front of them(physically) or If I don't stand behind our troops(support wise) why would I stand in front of our troops (support wise). It kinda makes sense if stand behind means (support) and stand in front means (physically in front) but why and how would you stand physically in front of troops.

 

[Kuzcotopia]

I'd never get a bumper sticker for political reasons. I tend to see a lot of them in Texas.

During the Obama years, I used to see a lot of Secede bumper stickers. Now, I feel like I see a lot of "Don't Tread on Me" and "Come And Take it."

My own bumper sticker says "My other ride is a Chocobo." I've had it for years. . .

 

[Falvlun]

To me that bumper sticker is not understandable. If I don't stand behind our troops(physically), why would I stand in front of them(physically) or If I don't stand behind our troops(support wise) why would I stand in front of our troops (support wise). It kinda makes sense if stand behind means (support) and stand in front means (physically in front) but why and how would you stand physically in front of troops.

It basically means that anyone who doesn’t support our troops (in the manner that the bumper sticker owner sees fit) should be killed because they are not worthy of the protection afforded by our military.

 

[Stevicus]

I actually just saw this bumper sticker too. Like most witty political slogans, it falls apart on reflection.

Personally, I think it primarily hinges on a misunderstanding— or more charitably, a disagreement— on what it means to support our troops. I imagine someone with this sort of bumper sticker believes that being against wars or for lower military spending means that you don’t support the troops. I think this is a dangerous ideology in general: if we put our military above criticism then who really is in control here? I can respect and support our men and women in the military without having to agree with everything they do.

As I recall, a lot of the "support our troops" sentiment arose around the time of the first Persian Gulf War, when memories of Vietnam Vets being spat upon when they returned home were fresher in people's minds. It was addressing those who attacked the military "just because," rather than directing their wrath at the civilian leadership who were making the actual decisions. It was seen as misguided and barking up the wrong tree, when it's the ruling class who should have been attacked.

The only trouble with that view is that it requires the troops to act in the cause of the American people, not the ruling class who are in charge. It means that the troops would have to become open revolutionaries, which many of them seem unwilling to do. Therefore, "supporting the troops" is an exercise in futility, since it's just as unprincipled as those who would attack the troops "just because."

 

[columbus]

I don't like having bumper sticker on my car. I rarely see one I completely agree with, to the point of having my car say it, unattended in a parking lot.
The only one I ever considered was that "COEXIST" sticker, spelled out in different religious symbols.
Tom

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

Saw this on a bumper sticker yesterday. (It was on an F150.) I find that a lot of people around here put bumper stickers on their cars to air their political views. Some people have a lot of bumper stickers, both left and right wing.

I don't really mind bumper stickers. At least it gives me something to read while stuck at a red light.

A lot of bumper stickers and decals are sports related, and since I live in Wildcat Country, those are the majority of stickers.

Some bumper stickers seem deliberately provocative, such as the one quoted in the title. It's tantamount to saying "those who are not with us are against us." It suggests that if people don't support the military no matter what, they should be shot. So much for the "fight for freedom."

Whenever I see that sort of bumper sticker, I wonder about the actual military experience of the owner. IMPE, actual military veterans tend to own stickers that say something about their own service, and their own attitude towards other military members, but rarely saying what other people should think.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

I don't like having bumper sticker on my car. I rarely see one I completely agree with, to the point of having my car say it, unattended in a parking lot.
The only one I ever considered was that "COEXIST" sticker, spelled out in different religious symbols.
Tom

I have a sticker for a radio station I'm no longer in the broadcast range of, and a sticker with a bunch of fellow HEMA hobbyists on it. Usually this guy is also sticking around the back of my car when in parking lots, so I rarely have issues.

 

[Stevicus]

I don't like having bumper sticker on my car. I rarely see one I completely agree with, to the point of having my car say it, unattended in a parking lot.
The only one I ever considered was that "COEXIST" sticker, spelled out in different religious symbols.
Tom

The only bumper stickers I would consider putting on my car would be comments on other people's driving.

 

[Sanzbir]

I don't really mind bumper stickers. At least it gives me something to read while stuck at a red light.

I agree, but I hate the ones where the text is so tiny no human in the following car could ever hope to read it. It's like it tempts you into trying to read it, only to mock you with the impossibility of that task.

 

[Twilight Hue]

To me that bumper sticker is not understandable. If I don't stand behind our troops(physically), why would I stand in front of them(physically) or If I don't stand behind our troops(support wise) why would I stand in front of our troops (support wise). It kinda makes sense if stand behind means (support) and stand in front means (physically in front) but why and how would you stand physically in front of troops.

It makes me think of back in the 60s as to how soldiers were treated coming home from Vietnam. While I don't think reasons behind war should always be popular with everyone, vilifying our troops would be unwarranted today as back when a lot of the public treated soldiers in a derogatory manner like they were in Vietnam.

 

[Revoltingest]

I had a bumper sticker on Mr Truck before he burned up.
And I'd get the same one for Mr Van.
It was....

Vote Libertarian
Ask Me Why

I like bumper stickers designed to invite discussion.
And this one actually did.
I've no use for the ones which merely proclaim something,
particularly those which inspire anger in the opposition.

But this one is good....

 

[columbus]

I have giggled at the thought of printing myself a
gay atheist for Life
bumper sticker.
But I am sufficiently inflammatory in real life to have had messages carved into the paint on my car as it is. So I didn't.
Tom

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I need that one.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I usually have them, but my current car does not, and mine tend to be political in nature, which is a no-no to my employer. My most favorite one I had said "my karma ran over my dogma." The dumbest one I've seen said "love," but it used guns, a grenade, and knife to shape the letters. It reminded me of Carlin's "screwing for virginity."

 

[Revoltingest]

I need that one.

I suspect that a great many of us here do.

 

[columbus]

Hey!

I suspect that a great many of us here do.

I resemble that remark.
Tom