27 August 2005
Whose Quiet Majority?
In his commentary on the Wall Street Journal editorial page, dated 26 August, 2005, Daniel Henninger confused opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq with failure to support our soldiers there. This has been a deliberate tactic used by the Bush Administration to portray war dissenters as unpatriotic ingrates.
Members of the volunteer military, the Reserves and the National Guard have enlisted out of their commitment to defending the country’s security, not in order to make it possible for the leaders of our government to upset world security. When their service transforms them into victims of leaders with whose policy they and their loved ones disagree, their dissent is more poignant, not dishonorable. A quiet majority of Americans may be reluctant to challenge its characterization by the political machine behind Bush as a group of cowardly anti-imperialists. It’s in the interest of that machine to keep that majority quiet – the machine can then insinuate false thoughts of shame into the majority’s mind.
In his commentary on the Wall Street Journal editorial page, dated 26 August, 2005, Daniel Henninger confused opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq with failure to support our soldiers there. This has been a deliberate tactic used by the Bush Administration to portray war dissenters as unpatriotic ingrates.
Members of the volunteer military, the Reserves and the National Guard have enlisted out of their commitment to defending the country’s security, not in order to make it possible for the leaders of our government to upset world security. When their service transforms them into victims of leaders with whose policy they and their loved ones disagree, their dissent is more poignant, not dishonorable. A quiet majority of Americans may be reluctant to challenge its characterization by the political machine behind Bush as a group of cowardly anti-imperialists. It’s in the interest of that machine to keep that majority quiet – the machine can then insinuate false thoughts of shame into the majority’s mind.
Comments:
Post a Comment
