Dispelling those hackneyed myths

Cindy Sheehan's effort to speak with president Bush is turning into a very successful statement for peace. Sheehan's persistence to stay in Crawford, juxtaposed to Bush's refusal to speak with her, is bringing out the right in vicious doses. I suspect this is due to their incredible shrinking numbers as reflected in recent polls.

Sensing a reinvigorated anti-war movement, one can hear the likes of Michelle Malkin saying "Cindy Sheehan has surrounded herself with a group of anti-American, anti-military, terrorist sympathizing agitators." If you're not supporting Bush's bogus war, according to Malkin, you're part of "the crackpot crowd."

Time to bring out and dust off the empty platitudes:

1. We can't leave now, or our soldiers will have died in vain. This is the time when the war mongers like Malkin drag out those old saws demanding we must stay the course--even if it's wrong. There must be more killed to save the honor of those already dead--even if it's all a huge mistake. In Vietnam, this costs us over 58,000 American lives.

Dying honorably is a subjective thing. Point is, let those who have died rest in peace with the honor those who care and love them bestow. Killing more does NOT subtract from the honor of those who've already fallen. But halting a bogus war will sure as hell save lives from reaping honor prematurely and unnecessarily.

2. Would you rather fight them on their soil or ours? Another over-used platitude employed by the pro-war right. Point being, it's most often used inappropriately, as in the Vietnam War and the Iraq "cakewalk". Ironically, taking out Iraq has endangered American security, not strengthened it. Fighting "them" (whoever them is, innocent Iraqis?) on their soil has in fact heightened, not reduced, the odds we'll experience more terror on our soil. What we've done in Iraq is to create the best recruitment tool we could have given terrorists.

3. "America, love it or leave it" and "My Country Right or Wrong" (Ugh, that second one's really sick!) These are popular bumper stickers at times like this. These are best answered by another old saw: "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."