Protesting the protesters
Caught this mini op-ed from the Dallas Morning News this morning, and it got me thinking...
If you can afford to skip work for a few weeks to go protest a war, then it's almost certain that your son didn't really join the military because he was desperate for work or a source of income. He joined because he wanted to, even with the knowledge that it was wartime. So, to protest the circumstances of his death now is akin to a mother protesting the Fire Department because her son was killed while fighting a fire. It just makes no sense. A mother is allowed to feel pain for the loss of her son, of course, but she is still responsible for maintaining some semblance of rationality. And rationality in this case dictates that your son knew what he was getting himself into.
I would be a lot more sympathetic with Cindy Sheehan if she was a single mom who raised her kids in the projects of Detroit or something to that effect. In such instances, kids who enlist do so out of financial necessity, lured in by the promises of a paid college tuition and the chance to travel, and for a shot at economic stability. The military focuses its recruiting efforts in poor, urban zones for just this reason. Let these women, whose children are the victims and direct targets of institutional disenfranchisement, speak out. Why are their voices never heard? Oh yeah, becasue they're too busy actually working for a living.
Rough polemic? Possibly. Do I absolutely abhor "poor me" tomfoolery in the face of authentic injustice? A thousand times, yes.
posted by Anonymous @ 8:25 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Interesting stuff. Everyone has an agenda these days and it just sad who gets thrown under the bus to make it happen. Anyway I added your link to my blog. I look forward to more of your rants and raves, and your thoughts on the Cards-Chiefs pre-season game Saturday.
Have any of the media types speculated on how her son would react to her actions (because media types love to speculate after 5 minutes because that's all the real news they have to offer during their hour long shows). I mean would an Eagle scout marine really approve of his mother badgering the president because he died serving his country. I mean it sucks that it happened and I wish that it hadn't, but is this how he would truly like to be remembered? Just a thought I thought I'd throw out there.
mcbass, you're mcback. i thought you were in mciraq. okay, i'll mcstop now.
And shife, I'll agree with your statement if we can add a qualifier... everyone in the public sphere has an agenda. I'm still fairly convinced that most Americans simply live to work, and at heart could care less about most things political (and thus lack an inert agenda-orientation). All but the most politically charged issues then are essentially non-issues until a catalyzing agent (media, blogosphere) over-emphasizes and amplifies their importance. So for me, exactly who has the agenda is still up in the air, but I definitely don't think it's the everyman.
*breath*
if I had to say what we are fighting for a word then my word is poontang.
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