| March
5, 2003
I
can't watch television news these days without punching walls. For
instance, Fox News pundit Bill O' Reilly recently snapped that once
the war begins, "we expect every American to support our military,
and if you can't do that; just shut up." He follows up by boasting
that any dissenters "will be considered enemies of the state
by me." One of the, um, "reporters" on CNN Headline
News openly heckled Hollywood celebrities for asking "simple
and naïve" questions, like "what exactly has Iraq
done to us?"
The
broadcast and cable networks have long since thrown their lot with
the pro-war hawks of the White House; that's to be expected (war
means big ratings). What I resent is the condescending, sneering
nature of it all.
Of
course, one of the main thrusts of the war hawks is the so-called
"humanitarian" cause. Saddam is a bad man. He brutalized
his own people. He used chemical weapons on the Kurds. We're not
going to conquer Iraq because of its oil; we intend to liberate
these poor people.
Sure
they will.
There
are many reasons why people oppose this war, and most of them simply
return to the same theme: Bush is lying. The public is being sold
a lemon and being told it's a Cadillac. Saddam Hussein is not about
to attack America or anyone else. Iraq poses a threat to no one.
This has absolutely nothing to do with terrorism of Osama Bin Laden.
The
Bush hawks have no intention of bringing democracy to Iraq. Iraq
is not going to become a beacon of freedom; not now, not anytime
soon. And anyone who thinks me "unpatriotic" for noticing
has rocks in their heads.
In
the minds of the Bush Cult, the world is our slave, and anyone who
disapproves will become a target. |
