"Why do they hate America?"
One of the more idiotic and deceitful refrains bandied about in the conservative blogohemisphere (as well as at the highest levels of government) is that liberals who believe that the United States should not have invaded Iraq in 2003 also now want America to lose and for the terrorists to win. That anybody actually falls for this has always mystified me. Can it be that hard to grasp the distinction between the two positions, and to recognize that the second position does not inevitably follow from the first?
To use a simple analogy, let's say I see some kid preparing to hit a hornets' nest with a stick. I might try to dissuade him by saying "Hey, kid, don't do that! The hornets will sting you!" Even if I agree with him that the hornets are a menace and that the hornets' nest needs to be gotten rid of, I could argue that hitting the nest with a stick is not the best way to achieve this goal, and that other methods might be far more effective and much less dangerous. But let's say that my words fall on deaf ears and the kid goes ahead and hits the nest with a stick and the hornets swarm out and start to sting him. Just because I warned him that this would happen does not mean that I want the hornets to sting him to death. Even if I find it hard to stifle an occasional "I told you so!" as I rush the kid to the hospital, it does not make me "anti-kid" or "pro-hornet." I may even be so bold as to suggest that we might want to rethink the whole hitting-hornets'-nests-with-sticks policy, and that when dealing with other hornets' nests in the future we might want to try other approaches that don't involve hitting the nest with a stick. And if I suggest that next time around we shouldn't completely disregard the advice of entomologists on how best to get rid of hornets, it doesn't mean that I want to offer the hornets therapy or that I'm "soft on hornets."
But where was I? Oh, right. Iraq, and conservatives' misrepresentations of liberals' views.
The other thing that makes me wonder why conservatives would think that liberals who argue that we shouldn't have invaded Iraq are "pro-terrorist" is that I have never read or heard of a verifiable instance of any liberal actually rooting for the terrorists. In fact, I'd never heard of any American of any political persuasion take that position.
Until now.
Reasonable people might disagree on how best to label the protestors described in this news report. Some people might call them "traitors" or "unpatriotic" or something like that. My personal vote goes for "psycho loony nutjobs." But whatever label you would like to pin on these people, they are most definitely not liberals. If the conservatives want to disown them too, that's up to them. But these folks are definitely not from our side of the aisle.
(H.T. Relevant History)
Update: The link to the news report I refered to in the last paragraph is dead, so I've posted the text of the article in the comments.
To use a simple analogy, let's say I see some kid preparing to hit a hornets' nest with a stick. I might try to dissuade him by saying "Hey, kid, don't do that! The hornets will sting you!" Even if I agree with him that the hornets are a menace and that the hornets' nest needs to be gotten rid of, I could argue that hitting the nest with a stick is not the best way to achieve this goal, and that other methods might be far more effective and much less dangerous. But let's say that my words fall on deaf ears and the kid goes ahead and hits the nest with a stick and the hornets swarm out and start to sting him. Just because I warned him that this would happen does not mean that I want the hornets to sting him to death. Even if I find it hard to stifle an occasional "I told you so!" as I rush the kid to the hospital, it does not make me "anti-kid" or "pro-hornet." I may even be so bold as to suggest that we might want to rethink the whole hitting-hornets'-nests-with-sticks policy, and that when dealing with other hornets' nests in the future we might want to try other approaches that don't involve hitting the nest with a stick. And if I suggest that next time around we shouldn't completely disregard the advice of entomologists on how best to get rid of hornets, it doesn't mean that I want to offer the hornets therapy or that I'm "soft on hornets."
But where was I? Oh, right. Iraq, and conservatives' misrepresentations of liberals' views.
The other thing that makes me wonder why conservatives would think that liberals who argue that we shouldn't have invaded Iraq are "pro-terrorist" is that I have never read or heard of a verifiable instance of any liberal actually rooting for the terrorists. In fact, I'd never heard of any American of any political persuasion take that position.
Until now.
Reasonable people might disagree on how best to label the protestors described in this news report. Some people might call them "traitors" or "unpatriotic" or something like that. My personal vote goes for "psycho loony nutjobs." But whatever label you would like to pin on these people, they are most definitely not liberals. If the conservatives want to disown them too, that's up to them. But these folks are definitely not from our side of the aisle.
(H.T. Relevant History)
Update: The link to the news report I refered to in the last paragraph is dead, so I've posted the text of the article in the comments.
posted by Alex S. at 4:07 PM
1 Comments:
Here is the text of the news article I originally linked to:
Phelps' Group Protests At Soldier's Funeral
Fri Aug 5,11:15 PM ET
Members of the Rev. Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., are picketing military funerals, KMBC's Micheal Mahoney reported Friday.
The group has made national headlines for traveling throughout the country to picket gay churches, gay weddings, and the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student who was murdered in Wyoming in 1998.
Friday, about 15 members of the group -- some of them children -- picketed the funeral of a St. Joseph soldier who was killed in
Iraq. Mahoney reported that the group stood across the road from the Grace Evangelical Church during the funeral of 21-year-old Spc. Edward Myers.
"The first sin was being a part of this military. If this young man had a clue and any fear of God, he would have run, and not walked, from this military," said protester Shirley Phelps-Roper. "Who would serve a nation that is godless and has flipped off, defiantly defied, defiantly flipped off, the Lord their God?"
One protester had an American flag tied to his belt that draped to the ground. He was holding a sign that read, "Thank God For IEDs," which are explosive devices used by insurgents to blow up military convoys.
Protesters said America has ignored the word of God, and those who defend the nation must pay a price.
"That's the first piece of solid evidence that you have that the young man is currently in hell," Phelps-Roper said.
"The soldier is in hell now, you believe?" Mahoney asked.
"Absolutely," Phelps-Roper said.
'Protesters Were Rude'
About a dozen veterans stood across the road from the protesters, and Mahoney reported that there were some harsh words and insults traded between the two groups. However, sheriff deputies were stationed about 100 yards away and there was no violence.
"The protesters were so rude -- were disrespectful," said veteran Jim Fields.
"Do I like it? No, I don't. But what can you say, it's a free country," said veteran Dave Campbell.
Veterans told KMBC that a member of the soldier's family shouted at the protesters to leave, and they left about 20 minutes after the funeral started. Mahoney reported that there was applause from veterans and other crowd members when the protesters left.
After the funeral was over, one of the mourners commented on the irony of the protesters showing up at a soldier's funeral.
"They shouldn't protest the funeral for a man who was out there dying to protect the rights that they're demanding they receive," said Marvin Russell.
Russell said he thinks the soldier's family saw the protesters.
"I think it saddened them. They didn't say anything outright, but you could tell by the way they looked down that this was a sad thing to do. They're already in mourning, they don't need people like this to make it worse," Russell said.
Myers was buried with full military honors in Leavenworth National Cemetery. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
One of the protesters said the group is planning to picket other military funerals.
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