I DON’T SUPPORT our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car. Supporting the troops is ,a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on. - Joel Stein LA Times
When Joel Stein wrote this column for the LA times last week he may not have realized what he was getting himself into. Of course conservatives, liberal and just about everyone else in the US are picking and choosing parts of the article that make it sound worse than it is. Radio host Hugh Hewitt tore the man a new one and everyone is pretty shocked at what he’s saying and that he’s not apologizing.
But he does have a point.
Maybe it wasn’t expressed very well. Maybe writing isn’t his forte. But he has a point. The argument that the war is separate from the people who fight it doesn’t make logical sense. Stein clearly says that he doesn’t have a problem with people who support the war in Iraq declaring their support for the troops but that it’s hypocritical to say you support the troops but not what they’re dying for. Stein says he doesn’t have anything against the troops; he doesn’t hate them or want to spit on them when they come back but that he just won’t be attending any pep rallies for them. I see what he’s saying. Supporting the troops is de facto supporting the war. I think what this really boils down to is that he doesn’t condone what they’re doing.
It’s like finding out your kids are smoking crack. You don’t support them (or maybe you do - that’s your choice. I’m not a parent; I’m not going to make that call). You still love and care for them. You don’t want them to die. You’re certainly not going to spit on them. But you still can’t say you “support” them. And sure maybe you’ll take the “my kid is an A student” sticker off the back of the minivan, but when they get clean you’ll welcome them back with open arms. I think this is what he was trying to get across.
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Article comments
1 - Elvira Black
DJ:
Great post. A few things in particular you said really resonated for me:
"For three or four days they talked about nothing else than this comment. It's like they'll do anything to avoid talking about something real."
"Especially in the US, where the 1st amendment/ freedom of speech so highly valued, I'm not finding people very accepting of other opinions. Threatening to knock someone head off, beat them up and generally harassing them for having a different opinion, well it's kind of childish."
Yes, freedom of speech is sacrosanct, but it seems like we Americans are particularly fond of what I like to refer to as "freedom of screech." Like 2 year olds, we seem to think the louder we yell and the more we insult and verbally decimate others, the more "correct" our opinion is. Particularly since anonymous commenters eager for "blood" can hide behind a pseudonym to give them the "courage" to vent, a difference of opinion can quickly devolve into a kind of subhuman battle of the dimwits. Very depressing--at times even frightening.
2 - Scott Butki
You're right that this is not a black or white issue. Like much in life it is more gray.