What Lou Should Have Said

There was a bit of a dust-up today involving yours truly in uniform and carrying my trusty peace flag.  The “battlefield” was behind Cleveland’s iconic West Side Market.
My female adversary strongly contended our military is “protecting our freedom,” while I countered that “the Viet Cong had no interest in taking away our freedom”. She would have nothing of that valid point, again repeating her mantra.
Her position reminded me of that old saying, “I’ve got my mind made up. Don’t bother me with the facts.”
Yep, she got my half-Irish up.
What I should have said is this: “I’m afraid we agree to disagree. If we had not invaded Vietnam, we would still have our freedoms, which are ensconced in the U.S. Constitution and in various statutes. If we had not invaded Afghanistan and Iraq we would still have our freedoms. They are embedded in our laws.
“Rather than the military, those protecting our freedoms are civil rights lawyers throughout the country, particularly those in the employ of the American Civil Liberties Union.”
If such a confrontation arises again, I’ll try to keep the above observations in mind and mention them to folks not of like mind. No guarantee, though. After all, I am half-Irish.