The King of Bastards has a good joke about those yellow “Support Our Troops” ribbon stickers that people put on their cars. He says, “it’s literally, the least you can do.”
While I agree with KOB, a lot of people have been doing the least they can do, and equate the ribbons with support of troops. The press is supposed to be look past this superficial support and guage support for military actions on interviews with people, surverys, polls, etc. They are supposed to have a read on the national mood.
CBC.ca, however, bought right into the campaign. Check out the story. The headline, “Edmonton reluctant to support troops,” is a bit misleading. Turns out, if a reporter doesn’t see yellow ribbons tied to trees, Edmontonians don’t support their troops. In fact, the story even quotes a city alderman, who says the military doesn’t WANT ribbons tied to trees.
Being from Calgary, I don’t mind it when Edmonton gets burned. But saying that they don’t support the military officers stationed in their city because they don’t stick a yellow ribbon to their bumper is a bit harsh for me.