Give Peace A Chance?
Look, it is no surprise if you know me, I support the war in Iraq not because I am pro-war or because I don’t want peace. Of course I do, who doesn’t, but I am not naive enough to think we can all live happily ever after with no disaggreements, no poverty, no economic hardships, and no one trying to usurp power.
I believe in our system here in America. It is not perfect; it will not work for everyone, but affords the people of this great nation a freedom which is sacrosanct. I even believe it gives every citizen, Hollywood idiot or not, the absolute right to voice their opinion even if I don’t want to hear it. And trust me I don’t.
I understood the call for peace and non-violent protest before the war. I also repect the rights of those calling for it, but now the fact remains: WE ARE AT WAR. No protest is going to change that. I am not trying to bring anyone over to my side. If you don’t support the war, fine; that is your choice. But I am truly angered by the lack of support for our troops who enlisted in part to defend your right to hold your protest in the first place. I am sickened by images of protestors attacking police, holding cities hostage and most recently, trying to block supplies from being sent to our troops.
If you are for peace, you should also find yourself leading peaceful protests, but if you find yourself resisting arrest or keeping others with just as many rights as you from conducting business, then I expect you to take it like a man (or woman) when the police have to break it up. You know what you went there for and you knew the consequences of your actions, so don’t ask me to feel sorry for you when you force police to break out their riot gear, employ the use of tear gas, and shoot your ignorant asses with rubber bullets. After all, isn’t that what you really wanted in first place when you set out to get your mugs on the evening news?
In the immortal words of Dennis Miller (on Michael Moore), “He’s going to wake up every day for the rest of his life, and he’s going to tell us how he hates everything about this country except his right to hate it. And then we say that we love it and he’s going to tell us what naive sheep we are and that he’s the true patriot because he hates it and he sees all the problems in it. Yeah, right, Mike. You know something, if my yawn got any bigger they’d have to assign it a hurricane name, okay? Michael Moore simultaneously represents everything I detest in a human being and everything I feel obligated to defend in an American. Quite simply, it is that stupid moron’s right to be that utterly, completely wrong”. And last but not least, “If you’re in a peace march and the guy next to you has a sign saying that ‘Bush is Hitler,’ forget the peace thing for a second and beat his ass, because he is not Hitler”.