I just felt like saying something on the topic of “freedom fries” and it’s this…
… yeah, that’s mature…
Congressmen have shown that they can act like little 4th graders… geez. They’re acting petty and immature.
Lets talk a little bit about patriotism. Whoever said that it was a good thing?
This is the definition of Patriotism according to webster’s:
Patriotism - Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one’s country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one’s country.
yeah… loving your country, blah blah blah. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of hearing people (especially republicans) blasting war critics for being unpatriotic. “This is a time to come together” they say.
Patriotism is a blind, biased stance in support for your country. It means that one can be patriotic even if the US decides to nuke the crap out of France, for example. And this is BAD. Patriotic propaganda discourages people from informing themselves, and tells them to support a war, “just because they love their country.” I wish ONE congressman or senator would encourage people to be informed instead.
Another argument I hear is that we should support the war because “our boys are risking their lives.” I’m sorry, but I didn’t send them, I don’t want them to risk their lives, and I didn’t vote for the guy who put them there. People who say this are expecting me to forget all about the fact that there’s no conclusive evidence backing this war, and to support the war because our soilders are there. I don’t buy that. Sorry.
Sen. Tom Daschle recently critizised Bush’s complete failure at diplomacy. Immediately he was blasted by Republicans, and he was called “unpatriotic.” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said, “Our men and women literally are in a countdown before fighting is initiated, and any remarks that their lives in some way have been compromised by the president of the United States is irresponsible.” No it’s not. It’s not irresponsible, it’s not unpatriotic, it’s not Anti-American. It’s something that needs to be pointed out, so that we don’t do something BAD because we’re blinded by patriotism. Disagreeing with the President is irresponsible? Please…
I want them desperately to say: “look, we don’t have concrete evidence, but Saddam is a bad guy, and he needs to go. This is something that needs to happen” I think I’d be ok with that. I wish they would say, “Please, read all about the conflict, read about the reasons WHY France is opposing the war so much, read about what Saddam has done to his people, and then tell us whether you support the war or not.” Because I know as well that many peace advocates don’t know crapola about what’s going on.
I think if we had an informed public, we’d support the war, but we’d be blasting away at Bush, and we would take him and his hawkish cabinet out of power. Polls would show that Saddam has to go, but would also show that Bush’s is incredibly BAD for our foreign policy.
Please, make sure you’re not blinded by childish patriotism when you ask for your Freedom Fries… Read all about this war (I still don’t know everything about it…) And don’t act like congressmen… er… 4 year olds.
