The death of Jerry Falwell and the ongoing carnage in Iraq has had me meditating on two heavy topics. First, regarding Jerry Falwell. He was a despicable man who used the bully pulpit of radicalized religion to spread a message of intolerance and hate. He happily contributed to the phony culture wars, and as a result has helped polarize the United States. He may or may not have been an evil man, but it is no doubt that his ideology was. Therefore I am glad he has died. Although his power had declined of late, he served as a figurehead for a nasty and un-American movement. We are told never to speak ill of the dead, however I see no reason for this in the case of Jerry Falwell. His blustering against everything outside of his narrow view of reality coupled with the sheer sin of manipulating lonely and desperate people leaves him with no remorse from me; I’m glad to see him go.
Another topic that is weighing heavily on me is the “support the troops” meme. All of the Democratic candidates are espousing how much they support the troops; indeed Edwards, my favorite, is offering a T-shirt which reads “Support the Troops” on the front and “End the War” on the back. While I understand the political expediency of such expressions, I wonder if it is just cover. I wonder if it is okay to not support the troops, and the more I think about it, this is how I feel. Now I realize that joining the Army these days is predicated on many factors, not in the least socioeconomic. But that does not negate the fact that the mission is immoral. I strongly reject the neocon doctrine of foreign affairs, and this war is the showcase of just that. Our troops are in Iraq as an occupying force, and the Iraqis are resisting them as such. This does not mean that I support the killing and maiming of American (or “coalition”) forces, but I do understand why the Iraqis are planting bombs by the roadside.
Although we Americans come from a society that is both free and liberal, we must realize that much of the world does not operate on these terms. Strongmen, however reprehensible, often through their brute force put a lid on nasty, self-destructive tendencies present in any society. Although America is a multi-ethnic society relatively free of violence, we must remember that the American model IS exceptional. Therein lies the dilemma. Most people on the right these days take our special standing as a mandate to bring these values, by any means, to other parts of the world. On the left, however, most are unwilling to acknowledge the privileged situation of the United States and foolishly call for equal justice/rights around the world. Both views are naive, and more so, self-destructive. We must discard both mistaken sets of belief. Not that I’m asking anyone to be a moderate… as many of you know, I am not. But if one is to be radical and campaign for change, then one must have an agenda that has a chance of success. Of the real demons that face the US, radical Islamic terrorism is not even in the top 5; fighting poverty and outsourcing, protecting the environment and our civil liberties all take precedence over the irrational fear of terrorism.
So no, I don’t support the troops because they are engaged in a mission which is damaging our country by the day. Because I do not support them, I want them out of there. How about that?
Hmm this post is strangely inconsistent with your past writings, and I’m going to go ahead and accuse you of attempting to start a flame war in the comments section. After all, you must know that the troops themselves, by nature of a military-bureaucratic system that is perhaps the most evolved hierachy ever developed by mankind (having been present nearly its entire organized existence), really have no control over their situation. It was no general who sent us to war, it was politicians, and you know that.
Of course, we also know that the politicians are using this by now DOA slogan of “supporting the troops”, which has changed hands politcally so many times over the last 4 years that it no longer holds any actual meaning, as just some kind of senseless rallying call for who knows what. As for the intentions of any of the Democratic candidates, I think they can be generally summed up as “let’s not screw up and not get elected AGAIN, AL.”
I personally pity the troops, who are stuck in a war that never had a decent purpose (if any war has one) with really no realistic exit strategy. Their morale is most certainly lower than ours, happy as we can be in our heated homes and so on. They will come home eventually with no glory, no honor, nothing that martial-types seek, and probably shoddy veterans benefits and cost-cuts as we try to recoup this trillion-dollar disaster. Even the guys who “just did it for the college money” won’t be so keen to apply to West Point or wherever. Basically, war sucks for them more than us, and that’s why we should support them.
As for your analysis of the left wing as idealists, I think I’m detecting a (perhaps) new tendency, one that really brings the far left (anarchists, socialists, variations) full circle to the far right (libertarians), where isolationism is the new fad in foreign policy. I think we’ll see a strong turn in this direction as soon as the war ends (if it does, AND a Dem gets the bid), which will be unfortunate for many of the world’s cesspools that legitimately need our help, like Sudan, Somalia, and so on.
Ok I’m starting to wander. But Jerry Falwell can burn in non-existent HELLLLLL!!!
More: http://wonkette.com/politics/top/praise-god-jerry-falwell-is-dead-260642.php