It’s a very happy holiday for out sergeant Darren Manzella! Servicemembers Legal Defense Network tell us that the openly gay sergeant returned home to the United States yesterday:
Sergeant Manzella arrived back in the United States yesterday with his unit, returning from a long tour in Kuwait. He got back to his base in the States yesterday, safe and sound.
As you can imagine, his CBS appearance on Sunday has caused quite the buzz among his fellow troops, but Darren reports to SLDN that he’s received an overwhelmingly positive response from many people – both inside and out of the armed forces – who have contacted him to offer support and congratulations. (And we’ve been passing along your messages to Darren, too. You can still email him at [email protected].)
Now, of course, Darren’s thoughts are turning to the upcoming holidays. And, we’re happy to report, it looks like he’ll likely be able to spend Christmas at home with parents and siblings, who are all immensely proud of him.
That warms the cockles of our heart.
DavidDust
Does he accept marriage proposals via email?
dvlaries
There’s the kind of public face gaydom has needed for decades. 🙂 Here comes some Christmas spirit at last, I think. Run for office, Darren, why don’t you?
Woof
I’d like to warm his cock-les
ProfessorVP
There is no excuse for anyone, straight or gay, for getting involved in these oil-grabs and nation-rebuilding scams. Darren, if you’re reading this: no, I don’t feel safer, and no, I’m not paying 99c for gasoline because of your service. So no, I’m not grateful. You certainly could pose and be hot for a better cause.
Alacer
THIS is the kind of thing that makes me proud.
Alacer
p.s. he’s a cutey!
hells kitchen guy
ProfessorVP: wow, easy to sit in an armchair and dictate to other people how to live their lives. I hate the war, but this is a brave man. You are not brave.
ProfessorVP
Who dictated anything, schmuck? I said I wasn’t grateful, and I’m not. And you don’t know me, my past, my present, nor my future. I wouldn’t claim to know of your brave deeds or lack of them. I don’t know you, nor do I claim to. Nor do I want to.
And don’t bother answering, Lazy, I’ll do it for you: Oh, yeah… well, you are fat. I just know it. 350 pounds of bacon, all bought on food stamps.
Daddy's Submissive Little Boy
Regardless of politics, he’s a man serving – in uniform – which is to be honored; despite the foolish, dipshit decision made made by his or her Commander in Chief or other national policymakers.
God bless him for taking on the mantle of challenging the stupid assumption that you can’t be authenthic to one’s self and still served these United States of America.
ProfessorVP
Maybe you didn’t get the memo, Daddy. The people of Iraq and Afghanistan had nothing to do with 9/11 nor posed any threat to America. And it was no particular secret. Of the countless innocent Afghans killed and the estimated 600,000 innocent Iraqis killed and between one and two million displaced due to America’s illegal wars that bankrupted our nation, and of Manzella getting all puffed up and proud to be accepted by his hunky straight buddies, whose side am I on? Don’t make me laugh.
Paramedic24
VP- You’re just the same as the people that boo’d my dad when he came home from Vietnam. I’m just glad that every time I tell someone in uniform “thank you,” I cancel out your ignorance. I will continue to thank our brave servicemen and women, you just sit there and steal oxygen from the rest of us.
ProfessorVP
Paramedic, at least there was a slightly credible pretense of going into Vietnam- “the domino theory.” If we didn’t stop them there…, and you know the rest. We didn’t meddle in that region to privatize its oil or build a pipeline under it.
It’s sheeple like you and others who get the world fucked up. Of course ordinary Germans praised their sons who goose-stepped off to war or ran the concentration camps. It’s easy to be mindless, never ask questions, be for whatever atrocities your troops commit.
Again: No, I am not grateful. And if America keeps pissing off the world and starting wars, there won’t BE more oxygen for me to steal, doofus-dimwit.
Nikko
ProfessorVP, I agree with you. War is evil period. Why do people forget that?! Hail gay righteousness!!
hisurfer
Seems we had a pretty solid reason for going into Afghanistan. They were protecting al Qaeda, who are very much a real threat. Afghanistan didn’t have much to do with oil.
Iraq – yeah, that was bullshit, although I’m still inclined to believe Bush sent us in there to fulfill some half-assed biblical prophecy rather than to get oil. After all, for oil all he had to do was rim Saddam’s ass like Reagan and the rest of them did.
hisurfer
Doh! I didn’t even come here to argue the war. I came here to agree with most of you: this man is fucking hot, and doesn’t even need photo-shopped abs to prove it.
dfrw
I say bring all of the trops home…and defund this deadly, expensive, and pointless war immediately. I’d like the “film at 11” to be about Democrats growing spines and taking on Bush and the Republicans over the mess they have created over the past 7 years.
ProfessorVP
Nikko, you are not really agreeing with me; I never once even suggested “war is evil, period.” America’s war against the Axis in WW2 was not evil. Not all wars are equal, and not all wars are evil. Bush-Cheney’s wars on Afghanistan and Iraq are evil. I suggest everyone google these words: Afghanistan Carlyle Group Pipeline. Here’s just one good link:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHI203A.html
Dfrw, one reason the Democrats are so craven is that there’s this dimwitted, incurious mindset out there (and evidenced on this board) in which people blindly follow, follow, follow. It’s easy to be pleased this hot gay soldier is being accepted. “See, he’s every bit as good as the straight soldiers!”, while ignoring exactly what the fuck they are doing in Afghanistan and Iraq and WHY they are there to begin with.
Of course, if this hottie was helping stop the appalling situation in Darfur, or even helping rebuild New Orleans, I’d praise him.
kiltnc
Back to the original purpose of this story on Darren Manzella, which is our government’s refusal to afford us the same rights as heterosexual citizen. This story is about a man stepping forward and showing that we should be treated the same way as the straight soldiers.
Thank you Darren!
Lone Ranger and Tonto
Professor VP – if I can remember right, you said that you were a baby boomer….born right after WWII. I think that your archives include some Vietnamese wartime activism that you spoke about in reference to your similar opposition to warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq. You are consistent.
Military guys volunteer to serve. Servicemen should serve like other countries who allow openly gay soldiers to serve. The guy deserves some praise, even faint praise from you, about being in harm’s way.
todd
How many poor innocent brown people did you kill Darren, all for a country that holds you in utter contempt? Your sacrifice is in VAIN.
hells kitchen guy
ProfessorVP: You’re not brave because you sit in front of your computer while this guy is DOING something that requires courage, whether or not you agree with the larger meaning of his actions. But yeah, you’re probably fat and eat bacon. Whatever. Get a life.
jackscribe
Darren is my hero! However, the military will fire his ass. I wonder how they will issue a discharge? Maybe on midnight, Christmas Eve, when the press is asleep.
ProfessorVP
Anyone over the age of 12 who uses “Get a Life” as a snappy comeback might as well tattoo the word “stupid” on his forehead.
You had to sit in front of a computer, Hells, to write your brilliant repartee. You do not know what I do when I am not sitting in front of a computer, and I do not know what you do. And I don’t care to know. I wouldn’t wipe my shitty shoes on you- not because I disagree with you, but because you are LAZY. You are not curious to know things and not much on research. That much I do know of you. Naturally it is easier to say I am fat and eat bacon (you fell into my trap, schmuck) than offer a grown-up, logical defense for anyone, straight or gay, into goose-stepping into Iraq or Afghanistan. No, Einstein, merely “DOING something that requires courage” doesn’t cut it. Even the loner-dipshit who went on a killing rampage in the mall would qualify for your praise, then. It didn’t matter what he did, right? As long as it was more courageous than sitting at a computer. Hells, how do you survive? How do you get through a day without drinking Drano, sticking your finger in the electric socket, running with scissors?
But back to the real topic… me being fat and eating bacon 24/7.
ProfessorVP
And now to reply to an adult: Lone Ranger…
Yes, I am consistent. (No, Hells, not just about eating bacon.) I opposed Vietnam, although for different reasons. Regarding our volunteers, Lone, certainly those who volunteered for the National Guard had no idea they’d wind up invading and/or occupying places Bush-Cheney had a hard-on for long before 9/11. And those who volunteered for the other branches- once they found out what the wars were really about…
well, please check out this link about real courage, the courage to do the right thing:
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/
hells kitchen guy
Well, VP, you’re certainly not lazy. In fact, you’re loggorheaic! You should learn how to say much in few words. Like “get a life.”
hells kitchen guy
Now can we get back to talking about whether models’ pubes are Photoshopped or whether they’re wearing too much make-up?
ProfessorVP
Hells, I think I’ve recommended this to you before, regarding your lack of curiosity and research: begin a reading program, but don’t be too ambitious at first. Start with an M&M. Next, a matchbook. Well of course what I write seems gigantic and endless to you, lazy-bones.
hells kitchen guy
Wow, Herr Professor, you really must be an instructor somewhere, judging by the way you keep repeating the most obvious points. I’m guessing a community college or technical school.
But hey, in the spirit of the season, as long as we’re proferring unsolicited advice, here’s back at ya: why not try getting a sense of humor? Maybe people will pay attention to what you have to say, instead of posting endless pseudo-pedantic rants on gay blogs?
ProfessorVP
I’m on a few blogs, not just gay ones. Manzella has the right to be a poseur, all puffed up and letting us know why we should be proud of him, and I have the right to explain why I’m not.
Christmas bonus, your next comeback, for the only topic you feel confident in writing about: me. “Professor, your breath is lethal, I just know it. A combination of anchovies and coffee grounds.” Don’t say I never gave you anything, Lazy-Ass.
hells kitchen guy
“anchovies and coffee grounds”? you’re stepping way up in class. I was thinking more cow farts and bad eggs 🙂
ProfessorVP
Well, that’s a start anyway. Thinking, I mean.
Bill Perdue
‘hells kitchen guy’ is a prowar chickenshit chickenhawk who dishonestly alleges the US is not arming the jihadist death squads who hunt and murder our brothers and sisters in Iraq. ‘hells kitchen guy’ is the same sociopath who wants Bush to launch nuclear strikes and kill Iranian civilians. ‘hells kitchen guy’ is a clueless handpuppet of the zionist apartheid government and parrots their party line that supporters of Palestinian independence and reunification are anti-Semites. His views are as scripted and grubby as those of Bush, Clinton, Rice or Lieberman.
Bill Perdue
As in the Vietnam War, many GI’s were forced into the military for economic reasons, to escape an abusive gaybashing home life or to avoid jail time. The orders for the myriad war crimes by US military and mercenary forces usually come from the top but that doesn’t excuse participation in them. I think we can safely assume that most of the crimes, as in Vietnam, Panama and Korea were never reported.
The oil piracy is the epicenter of the resource wars and will likely last a long time and expand regionally. Given that, and the determined support it gets from Democrats and Republicans alike what will end this episode of the resource wars are the same forces that humiliated the imperial dreams of the US and the US military brass in Vietnam. First is the intransigence of the Iraqi political and military resistance. Second is the growth of antiwar actions; the sentiment is already there and heavily impacting US ‘fighting spirit’. Third is the strategy of massive, ‘pushy’ militant antiwar actions in the US. The combination of those factors kicked two US presidents out of office and sent the US military scampering on a headlong final ‘offensive’ that began in Saigon and didn’t end till they’d triumphantly defeated everyone in the way and arrived in San Diego.
It’ll happen again.
hells kitchen guy
I’m opposed to the war. But somehow, I can do it without a lot of meaningless antiquated Marxist agitprop.
Bill Purdue, you’ll never convince anyone until you learn to talk nice. Right now, you’re a fucking bore.
hells kitchen guy
I do think it’s funny, however, (laugh funny, not odd funny; maybe sad funny) that you support the Palestinians – who would kill you in a minute for being queer – over Israel, one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world. I put my gayness at the top of my politics. You obviously don’t. On that, we most certainly disagree.
Gregg
VP – if you really are a professor, I feel sorry for your students. You really are terrible at explaining your points.
Underneath all of your convoluted rhetoric, your idea is valid that we need not be “proud” of soldiers who currently volunteer for the armed services – but I would add the disclaimers – IF they are truly making a free choice to volunteer (not being forced into it by economics or another reason) AND they have the information to understand why this war is wrong. Depending where folks live, that information can be hard to come by.
Unfortunately, your attack tactics, poor idea structure, tendency to get sidetracked, and general abrasiveness – all contribute to undermine your own points. I bet even Hells Kitchen Guy would agree with some of your points if you (along with Bill Perdue) could actually articulate them.
hells kitchen guy
Thanks, Gregg. The fact is, I DO agree with many of their points. But aside from their graphophilia and utter lack of any feel for style (in any sense), it’s their utter bourgeois attitudes disguised under musty Marxist rhetoric. They think they’re being oh-so-prolly in their politics, but they have only disdain for the poor shlubs whose only choice is the Armed Forces or jail.
ProfessorVP
Actually, Gregg, I posted one thing: that I wasn’t grateful to those who served specifically in Afghanistan or Iraq, and in particular, proud poster boy Manzella. The information about what those wars was about was never any particular secret. I do have a degree of sympathy for those who joined the National Guard thinking, logically, that their duties would be those of preparedness for emergencies likely in their home states. But again, once they realized they were wreaking havoc on behalf of Unocal, Halliburton and the Carlyle Group, they should have resisted. Yes, yes, I know that’s easy for me to say. But I am too old now to fight, much less refuse to fight.
I would have stopped right there, but a certain doofus had to challenge me as to why I should dictate to anybody. Of course, I hadn’t. Not understanding basic English is no excuse; Hells shouldn’t have thrown down the gauntlet. I don’t care if Hells agrees with me or not. In fact, if he did agree with me, I would have to revisit whatever the issue it was. It’s not surprising that all Hells could do was call Perdue a bore; I usually get the physical insults- obesity, poor hygiene, etc. Why, Gregg, you would defend Hells is beyond me. You know something, as opposed to nothing.
Gregg
Well, VP, you’re quibbling about the word “dictate.” I’m not getting back into this whole tit for tat thing.
ProfessorVP
Well, the business about “dictate” is evidence of someone who can’t sustain an adult conversation, much less hold up his end in a discussion or debate. His illogic: “Those who are bores, write too much, are fat (by the way, I’m not), eat anchovies (guilty!) or dictate to others (I never dictate, I only suggest reading and being curious) express worthless opinions because… well, they’re bores, write too much, are fat, etc. Your defending Hells is tossing pearls to swine. Same to you, Perdue- if you expect Hells to change his mind, or even has a mind to change.
hells kitchen guy
You’re putting (your typically inane) words in my mouth. Hy, Prof, ever heard of “projection”?
Gregg, don’t waste your time. These guys are living in Cloudcuckooland, where they plot their grand revolutions like children playing Stratego.
ProfessorVP
There is not one single thing (words or ideas, I mean) that I have put in Hells’ mouth. He cannot give an example of what I have projected into him just as he cannot give an example, at any time on any topic, to point out, “You are wrong because…” and then explain why. Because he is lacking information and the curiosity to acquire it.
I will end my participation in this thread by saying that just the photo of Manzella smirking makes me hope that he gets busted immediately,
and not returned to Kuwait. That will teach him how phony his sense of accomplishment is and how phony Bush-Cheney’s wars are.
And in case anyone didn’t know, the whole Gulf War I was set up. Our then ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, practically invited Saddam to invade Kuwait. Look it up. No, it’s hopeless. LAZY.
As a Christmas gift, I will provide Hells’ swift comeback: “Professor, you are obviously stoned on a combination of lighter fluid and Endust.”
L A Z Y.
hells kitchen guy
Actually several people attacked your views. You only chose me because I called into question your priggish certainty.
hells kitchen guy
and oh yeah, instead of wishing this guy to land in jail (nice! you would have been great in East Germany), I only hope that he lands in my bed!
Anymous
ProfesorVP…Wow. You arent even far-left..your far off the freaking universe! You probably believe 9/11 was set up too, huh? Bush is out to blow up the earth and Hillary Clinton should be queen of the world?
“And in case anyone didn’t know, the whole Gulf War I was set up. Our then ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, practically invited Saddam to invade Kuwait. Look it up. No, it’s hopeless. LAZY.”
You talk about giving evidence, and calling those lazy who do not…yet you provide your point of view, yet provide no sources? Who is lazy now?
I may only be 15, but I plan on serving my country honorably. I am already involved in a junior-military like program that is completely volunteer and I can leave anytime. Ive been in it for 3 great years, and several people know of my sexuality, and don’t care. Are you against that too? Helping teens go to the best of their ability?
Darren Manzella is fighting for a cause, and that cause is ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Don’t attack him because of the war, he didn’t start it. He is simply a pawn.
If the military chooses to discharge him, that is their stupid loss, he looks like a great guy who did alot for his buddies. He saved a life or two, probably. Are you against him saving the lives of “the american pigs who have invaded a country illegally”?
Hopefully they can repeal that stupid law Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell…
Oh almost forgot, Welcome home Darren, Merry Christmas! (even though its a bit late, I know 🙂
The Ghost of Christine Jorgensen
“Sergeant Manzella arrived back in the United States yesterday with his unit . . .” And by “unit” does that mean his penis? And was it still attached or was it in a jar? ‘Cause I know a lot of those unlucky kids who originally joined the National Guard because it’s the only way they could afford a college education didn’t come home with one at all, or even legs or arms. Oh to be a teenager again when my unripened brain saw the world and its issues strictly in terms of good and evil and I was convinced I was invincible. Good times.