<the painful lesson >
Any 5-year-old can tell you, that killing is wrong. You know it, everyone knows it. So, to convince yourself that killing is Good, you've got to tell yourself a Story that makes it OK. The Story can be purely imaginary, but it's necessary to Believe it, totally.
The Story you're telling yourself is:
<If we're going to stand for something, why not stand for progressive and lasting change within the region?>
Only Americans, and fewer of them every day, think we stand for freedom, democracy, elections, and progress, in the Middle East. The rest of the world, in unison, from the street thugs in Fallujah to the Prime Minister of Spain, from Mexico to Canada to Korea, are telling us what they think we stand for in Iraq: Conquest and Death. That's what we bring. That's what we do.
I just got back from a demo/vigil, in downtown Anchorage. Alaska is about the most conservative State in the Union (only Utah gave a larger % of the vote to Bush, in 2000). When I held up my sign (Patriot For Peace, decorated with doves), I didn't get a single negative response, from the traffic passing by, during the entire demo. I got lots of thumbs-up, smiles, and other positive responses. |
