When Insulting The Troops Actually MEANS Something (CS)An Open Letter To My Grandma

My grandmother is the most Conservative person I know, associate with, and talk to on a regular basis. I mean Conservative in that "ardently loyal to the cause, whatever the hell that might be" since she listens to Rush every day, loves FOXNews, and thinks I'm a Communist just by virtue of having gone to NYU (but she still loves me all the same, yay for grandmas). I can't begrudge her for it (she's my grandma for chrissakes!) and she has been, in fact, a useful voice in getting me to explore and consider exactly why I disagree with her.
We communicate by e-mail a lot (she's fairly tech savvy for your average member of "The Greatest Generation") and recently after the John Kerry gaffe she shot this one at me:

"Hi darling grandson,

I see one of your "idols" stepped in a big doodoo.

Still love you,
Grandma"

Of course I pointed out the mistake she (and the Right in general) made that John Kerry is ANYONE'S idol, particularly on the Left where he was fairly unwelcome since 2004 and certainly a pariah now. Of course I pointed out that Bush and his administration have made similar, yet less persecuted comments (ex: referring to the war as a "comma"). But thanks to recent developments, the bulk of my e-mail read like this:

I'm sure you've heard (or maybe you haven't if you're stuck in the cloistered miasma that is the FOXNews/WCBS cycle) that several military journals (from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines) have all called for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. The article they are circulating is insightful and opinionated. Circulated by troops and for troops, the article points out Rumsfeld's strategy (or the lack thereof) and stubborness (as well as the President's stubborness to keep sticking by Rumsfeld) as idiotic, harmful, and unproductive.

How does the president respond? By "shrugging off" the editorial and calling it "shabby."

NOW who is insulting the troops? What's more, it is an insult that is tangible. An insult that is costing them their lives. An insult that is hurting the country and the world.

John Kerry's statement, while idiotic, was not and will not be a factor in loss of lives and loss of stability in the world. John Kerry's statement can easily be augmented to be understood and true and not foolish. Here's a simple retooling:
If you study hard and do your work and stay in school, you can accomplish great things. If not, you can be a closed off, moronic, stubborn and unrealistic person.... and become President.

John Kerry may be an idiot. But it is our President, also an idiot, who is seeing to death and destruction without any progress, without care for reality, without care for the public or the people he claims to serve. Don't you feel insulted?