There is a saying to the effect that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, and I guess it looks a little bit to me like some folks want to set up a flag-draped resort community and throw stones from their little red white and blue glass bungalows. Of course, it's the Squad, alleged Ayatollah sympathizers, who can't be patriotic enough, or even deserving of PTSD if they came up in a war zone. According to the new hymnal, Democrats are supposedly "in love with terrorists" now, as Rep. Doug Collins wants to put it, prompting veteran and Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth to respond explicitly:
"I left parts of my body in Iraq fighting terrorists." Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who lost both of her legs serving in the Iraq War, ripped into the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee who has accused Democrats of being "in love with terrorists." https://t.co/2NpcDSyWdk— CNN (@CNN) January 10, 2020
I don't expect Republicans to feel the sting of that one. I remember Max Cleland, who also left body parts behind, having his patriotism questioned, too. I remember how scurrilous lies against John Kerry (who was later integral to the Iran nuclear deal and speaks about it eloquently) led to propaganda against his presidential campaign that also had some confused partisans practically mocking all purple heart recipients.
Trump can try and describe Democrats now as "vicious, horrible people" and probably not face quite the disapprobation Hillary Clinton received for describing the Proud Boys/KKK Trump supporters as a basket of deplorables (which led far too many Trumpers to self-identify as "deplorables" and give away the game--they were, after all, KKK or at least a little bit racism-friendly because they said as much out loud on the internet where the people could hear), But a recent poll shows that by about 2-1, people feel that the Soleimani assassination made Americans less safe (because of likely retaliation--you think?) No American is loving some Iranian general they never heard of--they just don't want innocent people hurt because Trump got mad and did dumb shit (because now more than ever, Obama's first rule of foreign policy, "Don't do stupid shit", means oh so much more). They just understand Trump is a fuck up, and so, he fucked up. Like his bankruptcies and failed marriages and so on. He does dumb shit and morons bail him out.
No one is actually obligated to support him in his fuck up. That isn't patriotism. Questioning him is.
He gave an order to assassinate because he's already demonstrated time and again he doesn't understand what a war crime is. Maybe he would understand better what one is if someone reversed the footing--imagine someone from another country where people were horribly abused (the Ukraine, Iraq, Cambodia) deciding some American figure was totally responsible for war crimes and therefore was fair game for assassination? Henry Kissinger, Dick Cheney, Donald Trump--suddenly fair game by these rules? The very people saying Democrats are terrorist-lovers because they decry this hit of a foreign official now would understand how targeting top people results in repercussions, right? Not because they were morally earned--but because that is what war is. Response to displays of power with force.
Republicans think calling people who want to be clear-eyed about war "anti-American" and then wrapping their own shady hides in a flag will save them from questioning. Not this time. We see them and their salutes and their pearl-clutching. It isn't on anymore. Loving this country means having the argument out. Trump wraps himself in the flag because he understands the Constitution doesn't cover his ass. To which do you give your oath? It isn't the flag or Fox News. It is the document that says that Congress shall have the power of war (just like the power of impeachment).
We don't deserve to live in the tacky propaganda universe where people are demonized for argument and made enemies for how they express their love of country. We should be better than a flag-wrapped Scoundreltown. I refuse to let the Lindsey Grahams and Doug Collinses of this country have me expecting less than a land of the free and home of the brave. A peaceful and pleasant land. One where we don't just ice motherfuckers for random reasons.
Here I stand, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment