Respect the Troops, Don't Troop Trump!

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I saw a picture today. It was a picture of some soldiers, obviously in some sort of desert warzone and it had this text:

"Hey Wal-Mart employees, tell me again how it's unfair to work on Thanksgiving."

This is what I would call "Troop Trumping" . The act of invoking the service of our soldiers as a way to cheaply win an argument or shut down a debate. It's a lot like ending a discussion by kicking someone in the balls and walking away. The troops aren't involved in the controversy about Wal-Mart, but they're being dragged into anyway.

And it's utter BS.

The troops aren't BS. Comparing Wal-Mart to the Military is BS. Now, before I explain why, you should know something. Both of my parents are Veterans, as are other relatives of mine. My father was in Desert Storm. I spent six months wondering whether or not I'd ever see my father again. So, I'm more aware than most just what the sacrifice and nobility of the military involves. I would NEVER cheapen the servicemembers I love, and their fellow troops by exploiting them to win an argument.

So why is Troop Trumping garbage?

The issue is usually unrelated.

In the case of Wal-Mart the issue is not that simple, and it's not even about working on Thanksgiving. From what I've seen when people Troop Trump, they distort and oversimplify your issue to make it seem even more trivial than it does in comparison to serving in the military.

It's never a fair comparison.

Is serving in Afghanistan anything close to selling TVs? Not remotely. Our troops serve 24/7/365 because our enemies don't take holidays. Selling TVs however, can afford to take a holiday. It's NOWHERE close to as important, or as necessary as defending our country. If this is the yardstick that we're supposed to measure our problems by, then pretty much everyone needs to give up their weekends, their holidays, and shut up, because you can throw just about any issue up against our troops and the troops will always win. Being a soldier is a huge undertaking. War is hell.  But that's not related to working at Wal-Mart and it doesn't tell us whether or not the Wal-Mart employees have a legit case. In fact, it doesn't even address the issue at all because it's a distraction and...

It's a logical fallacy.

The holocaust was awful. But that doesn't mean rape and murder that happens today doesn't matter. If someone gets stabbed 3 times and someone else gets stabbed 4 times, does stabbing someone 3 times suddenly not matter anymore? Just because something isn't as difficult as serving your country that doesn't mean your issue is irrelevant. It's a false analogy.

It's intended to belittle and shame. 

It's one upmanship. It's not about putting something into perspective. Or even constructive dialogue. It's about trying to get the other person to shut up. "How dare you complain where there are people dying to defend our freedom!" Even though the complaint isn't at all related to war, or military readiness, you're supposed to shut up because somewhere someone else has it worse than you. No matter how hard you're working, someone else is working harder, in some cases a lot harder. While true, it's not relevant.

It's insulting to the troops. 

We don't honor our troops by invoking them to win arguments. These are real people, real men and women and they deserve way more respect that to be yanked into unrelated disputes. That's not supporting the troops, that's exploitation.
For all we know, the men in that photograph have parents who work at Wal-Mart. We don't get to use them as spokesmodels for our pet causes. We don't get to shove words in their mouths. They're fighting as much so that we can have the discussion about fair labor practices as they are any other issue, right, or freedom.
We don't get to use the troops as props just because we disagree with someone on an issue but are too lazy, too selfish, or just not smart enough to come up with a valid argument. It's disrespectful to our troops and dilutes the real sacrifice, the reality of what they do every day to make us safe. Many of them have given their lives, and they didn't do it so some jerk could use that noble sacrifice to win an argument.
Show some respect for our troops. Stop using them as a trump card to throw down instead of having a real discussion. If you really want to respect our troops, support them in a real way.