I’m sure Michelle Malkin would feel outraged if I said everyone of the pro-war Right was semi-literate, like the famous “morans” fellow. But Malkin assigns the following attributes to everyone on the antiwar Left:
These are people, remember, who liken Iraqi terrorists to America’s Minutemen during the Revolutionary War.
Who oppose not only the war in Iraq, but also the invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Who believe the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and at Shanksville, Pa., were a Bush conspiracy with Israel and/or Saudi Arabia.
Who applaud when left-wing professor Ward Churchill gloats about “chickens coming home to roost” and suggests that the peace movement should support the fragging of American troops. …
…Who believe Saddam Hussein should be freed and Guantanamo Bay emptied.
Who carry around banners that proclaim “WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS WHEN THEY SHOOT THEIR OFFICERS.”
I am sick to death of this crap. I consider myself to be firmly planted in the antiwar Left, and I do not endorse any of those allegedly “leftist” positions.
I haven’t met any leftie who advocates fragging American troops or who rejoices at their deaths. Last month I walked among the 100,000 + people who marched around the White House with Cindy Sheehan to protest the war, and I saw no such sentiment expressed. In fact, I suspect most of the marchers would have objected to the suggestion that troops be fragged.
I realize that, somewhere in America, there are a few people opposed to the Iraq War who want American troops to be killed. Human beings believe all manner of things–alien abductions, Scientology, Elvis sightings. There are even whackjobs who believe it is justified to round up unpopular minority groups and keep them in detention camps. There are outliers, and there is mainstream, and most thinking people recognize the difference.
But this exemplifies Malkin’s essential mendacity; she finds the most extreme and objectionable behavior of the leftist fringe and implies that everyone who opposes the war must also endorse these opinions. If there is one leftie on the planet who calls for the fragging of American troops, then all lefties must want the troops fragged. Well, then, if one rightie is an illiterate goon, then all righties are illiterate goons.
By the same logic, I can assume all righties belong to the Klan. And Malkin is a Nazi.
Regarding equating Iraqi “terrorists” to Minutemen–I think it would be wise to make a distinction between terrorists and insurgents, but let’s go on–I do not equate suicide bombers or anyone who targets civilians with the Minutemen. I don’t doubt someone on the Left has said something to that effect, but that was a stupid thing to say. Just as it was stupid when Ronald Reagan said of the Nicaraguan Contras:
They are our brothers, these freedom fighters, and we owe them our help. I’ve spoken recently of the freedom fighters of Nicaragua. You know the truth about them. You know who they re fighting and why. They are the moral equal of our Founding Fathers and the brave men and women of the French Resistance. We cannot turn away from them for the struggle here is not right versus left; it is right versus wrong.
You might remember the contras as the jolly crew who routinely sliced off women’s breasts, among their other gently persuasive techniques.
The part about 9/11 being a Bush conspiracy–yeah, I’ve run into them, too, but again we’re talking about a small minority. It’s an absurd idea; Bush isn’t competent enough to have pulled it off.
I’ve never met a leftie with any love for Saddam Hussein. Let the trial proceed. But for Guantanamo, to say that care should be taken that prisoners there are actually guilty of something, and treated humanely even if they are, is not the same thing as saying that Guantanamo Bay should be emptied. The day may come when Americans may be ashamed that it was not emptied, however, and I hope to live long enough to see that day. I hope Malkin lives long enough to see that day, too.
I know that some on the Left were opposed to military action in Afghanistan after 9/11, but I believe that was a minority position. If you know of a poll that says otherwise, let me know.
The line I ellipsed out, btw, is “Who use the names and images of dead American soldiers against their families’ wishes to propagate anti-Bush hatred.” Some on the Right consider any usage of the names and images of fallen soldiers, even in solemn remembrance, to be attempts to “propagate anti-Bush hatred.” This is their hangup, not mine. I’m opposed to using their names and images in any way that would be disrespectful to the dead. But if reminding people that Americans are being killed in Iraq amounts to propagating “anti-Bush hatred” — too bad.
If you want a good laugh go read her book reviews at amazon. The only reason she got even one star was because it was a minimal requirement for posting a review. Her thesis on profiling is as sound in reason as the legal concept of making an appeal to the corsned.
Aww, leave the poor girl alone. It’s all she, and the rest of the galloping Kool-Aid kids, have left.
Their ratings are down on tv and on radio. O’Reilly was on tv all last week crying about how misunderstood he is, what a victim, people are just so mean.
She’s trying to sell a product. It used to sell. Now, with a solid majority in favor of bringing the troops home now, the product has outlived its sell-by date. She just sounds pathetic and shrill. No one’s buying.
However much of this kind of crap Malkin spews, it’s not going to change a simple, basic fact: If we on the antiwar left were to get our way, the troops would come home safe. The pro-war right wants them to stay in Iraq, and as long as they stay in Iraq they’re going to keep getting killed and maimed. And the pro-war crowd keeps telling us it’s a noble enterprise. So who exactly is celebrating the deaths of our troops?
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