Cliff LyonIs It UnPatriotic to Question One’s Patriotism?
Absafuckinlutley
According to the Le Moyne College/Zogby Poll, February 28, 2006, 25% of American troops serving in Iraq “favor rapid U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq,” but 37% of troops serving there said, “Americans back home who favor rapid U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq are unpatriotic.”
Interesting. 37 minus 25 leaves 12 — the same percentage of Americans who still support Bush’s handling of the so-called war in Iraq.
I wonder what percentage of Americans would support eugenics?
An overwhelming majority of 72% of American troops serving in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year, and more than one in four say the troops should leave immediately.
The troops have drawn different conclusions about fellow citizens back home. Asked why they think some Americans favor rapid U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, 37% of troops serving there said those Americans are unpatriotic.
But here’s the really scary part:
Almost 90% think war is retaliation for Saddam’s role in 9/11.
WHAT? I feign surprise. This revelation actually parallels my experience questioning returning Utahns.
So, to those (like Jeremy Thorne SLTrib) who suggest listening to our misinformed troops instead of the Joint Chiefs, top brass, Iraq Study Group, most Democrats and many Republicans and 88% of Americans, I hereby revoke in perpetuity and for all time, your right to an opinion.
Disclaimer: I do not fault our troops for trusting the president and vice-president of the United States (this time).
December 23rd, 2006 at 1:55 pm
Imagine what the rest of the world must think of us attacking one another’s patriotism.
How embarrassing. Bush and Cheney started it and must now be held out as an example of treason for all to see.
December 23rd, 2006 at 1:59 pm
I fucking HATE BUSH AND ALL MY DUMB SHIT NEIGHBORS WHO LOVE HIM.
December 23rd, 2006 at 3:35 pm
Were the question for our misinformed troops, “Would you like to come home?” Then, I would listen very closely. Everything else, Generals, Pol, Pundits, Bah HumfrickingBug.
December 24th, 2006 at 11:46 am
The Jeremy Thorne letter is just another example of the “blame the media” theme we’re grtting from the Bush administration. Laura Bush spoke for herself and Barney when she told MSNBC:
“I do know that there are a lot of good things that are happening [in Iraq] that aren’t covered, and I think that the drum beat in the country from the media, from the only way people know what is happening unless they happen to have a loved one deployed there, is discouraging….”
Incidentally, does Laura have a “loved one” deployed in Iraq?
December 25th, 2006 at 1:46 am
Cliff
I think you have created a paradox. If it is unpatriotic to question someone’s patriotism, then you would have to be unpatriotic yourself to question someone who is questioning your patriotism?
December 25th, 2006 at 8:00 am
You are exactly right Ken. We agree. Maybe there is a God.
The very nature of patriotism includes questioning your government, demanding accountability, and expressing INFORMED opinions freely.
I will the ‘liberal media’ had understood this and jumped on Bush the second he said either you’re with us, or you’re against us.
God forbid we should ever have to tolerate such stupidity in a president again. Now, if we can just convince our ASP friends that their narrow definition of patriotism is well, too narrow.
December 25th, 2006 at 10:57 am
I agree with Michelle’s sentiments above. It is embarrassing that, as a general rule, we discuss nearly any public issue, and especially the most difficult one we have ever faced together in our lives, with no more decorum than that of a pack of hyenas.
Calling someone an ‘F***ing D*** S***’ is a clear example not only of how low we can sink, but–I sometimes wonder–of maybe how we fear that there may be less than something substantial to our point of view. An open, thoughtful, or confident point of view does not need to betray itself with vitriol.
In the process of trying not to destroy Iraq, let’s also try not to destroy America.
(If the shoe fits us from time to time, we’ll know it. If it doesn’t, we’ll have nothing to be offended about.)
December 25th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
While I appreciate the general principle that the use of profanity can compromise civil discourse. I also believe that there are rare times life and war when coarse, naked, human expression is not only neccesary but appropriate less gratuitous civility be taken to diminish the urgency and gravity of the matter.
Do I not suffer a lack of integrity if say, “I think Bush lied to The American people and caused the needless death of hundreds of thousands of innocents while bankrupting the nation and padding the pockets of the already rich”, when in fact I believe to my core he should be hung for treason, dragged into the public square for the citizens to piss on him for all the world to see?