Politics & Power Quote by Steve Buyer

A politician’s praise is rarely just praise, and Steve Buyer’s line is engineered to do more than thank returning troops. By starting with “The young patriots,” he frames military service as not merely a job or even a sacrifice, but a defining moral identity. “Patriots” is a loaded credential: it elevates the soldiers while gently implying that dissent, skepticism, or even complicated feelings about the wars sit outside the approved emotional script.

The list-making - “Iraq and Afghanistan and other deployments worldwide” - widens the lens beyond the two headline conflicts into the post-9/11 posture of permanent readiness. It’s a rhetorical move that both normalizes the global footprint and makes the obligation feel continuous, not episodic. These aren’t veterans of one war; they are recruits into a standing category of national indebtedness.

“Joining the ranks of veterans” is the hinge. It collapses different wars, motives, and outcomes into a single fraternity, sidestepping questions that were especially sharp around Iraq: Was it worth it? Who decided? What counts as victory? The sentence doesn’t ask the public to evaluate the policy; it asks the public to perform gratitude.

The most strategic phrase is “America owes an immense debt.” Debts sound concrete, but here the currency is left intentionally vague. That vagueness is the point: it invites applause and ceremony without specifying material commitments like long-term healthcare, disability support, housing, or accountability for the wars themselves. The context is a familiar Washington bargain - maximal reverence for troops, minimal clarity about the bill.