Heidi at VirusHead has an excellent post on the current regime's attempts to link opposition to wars of agression with providing comfort to the enemy:
We are America’s citizens. We are not defeatists. We are not pessimists. We are not appeasers.
I don’t hear anyone arguing that the militant anti-USA movements in the middle east are not a threat. Not “Dean democrats,” not anyone.
Many of us simply have come to believe that you back-alley players are the last people in America who should be making decisions on how to deal with that threat.
You seem to escalate the problems.
Read the rest of it here (http://www.virushead.net/vhrandom/2006/08/30/mr-cheney-mr-rumsfeld/). Unsurprisingly, Ron (http://ronsworld-ron.blogspot.com/), a fan of Big Government Conservative wars posted a comment expressing his disagreement with Heidi's thoughts on Bush and Co. According to Ron, "terrorist worldwide" are loving her "rediculas, baseless tirade." Hell, Ron even thinks that "the terrorist" want to "elect someone as President who thinks like" Heidi. Wow.
For the benefit of Ron and people who think like him, I gotta say, disagreement with the way a war has been handled and negative outcomes that will affect our nation for decades does not make a person a terrorist's wet dream. It makes them awake. I know plenty of people from all walks of life, even veterans like me, who disagree wholeheartedly with your naive assessment.
Ron, which “terrorist are hoping and praying” for such an election? And what exactly is the “terrorist” expecting from this hypothetical election?
As usual, a conservative like Ron has completely missed the point and is drowing in a sea of neo-con flavored sugar water. It seems that the Big Government Conservatives running the show today have handily accomplished what the USSR and their allies could not throughout the entire Cold War – kill liberty in America.
The PATRIOT Act, domestic surveillance, no-knock warrants, locking up individuals without charge and attempts to nullify attorney-client privilege, brought to us courtesy of the Bush Administration, all bear striking resemblance to similar practices in the Soviet Union. This is not a “rediculas, baseless tirade” but the simple, honest truth as observed by this libertarian veteran.
It seems that our nation has gone down a different path than wished for by any terrorist. Our “leaders” have chosen to give up on liberty and emulate the tactics of defeated enemies in favor of endless wars on tactics and political favors to corporate buddies. In short, create more enemies so we have to fight them and curtail more liberties in the process. And, of course, don’t forget to help your buddies line their pockets as well through no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars.
Shameful. When you get a chance, take a gander at Randolph Bourne’s “War is the Health of the State” and Major General Smedley Butler’s "War Is a Racket".
Both essays are available for free online at this link:
Thanks for the mention, James. Sorry for the slow response – my firewall was not allowing me to comment and I’ve only just figured that out.
I’m not sure what democracy can really mean to the people who have been so misled by fear and hatred that they have become incapable of dialogue or debate. I recently reread Orwell’s 1984 and it seems more applicable to today’s USA than ever. I hold forth hope, however, that this can be reversed.