With friendly fire like this, who needs enemy fire?
Now that everyone from the Dixie Chicks to what's-his-fuckin-face who won the Academy Award for Best Actor has had a chance to publicly announce their opinions on ARMED CONFRONTATION: IRAQ, it is time for me to grab the mic and rip shit up old-school.
As overwhelming as the past few weeks have been, I've been going through some major emotional and ideological swings. I don't consider myself a "liberal" nor a "conservative," though I most definitely lean left. I don't think boiling your entire set of political beliefs down to one all-encompassing label is realistic, nor does it foster independent thought.
Here's some shit I think. Now I know I'm not a famous movie star or singer or anything, but if you're going to listen to what some pop singer thinks, you might as well hear me out, too. In fact, the following should be required reading for anyone in the entertainment industry who thinks that someone paying their hard-earned money to watch them sing or act is also paying to hear their opinions:
No matter what you think of this war, please support the troops and welcome them back home with compassion and respect.
It is becoming clear that war is not Nintendo. People die and stuff. Saddam plays dirty. Innocent people get killed. American soldiers get executed. We drop bombs and shoot missiles. Who knew?
As you've no doubt read or seen in news, San Francisco has become a major node of anti-war protest and demonstration for the past week. I understand the message and the reason behind the protests, but I'm a bit confused by the methodology, timing and persistence. The protestors claim they are drawing attention to the fact that many Americans don't support aggression in Iraq, and that's valid. But does it need to happen every day? Do you need to block this city's inhabitants -- most of which think the same way about the war as the protestors do -- from going to work, going home and picking up their kids? If so, don't you think this sort of aggressive protesting would have been more effective before the war started? That way, it conceivably could have changed something.
Also remember this, protestors: The same constitutional rights that allow you to assemble and protest peacefully also grant everyone else the right to go to work. And if you're looking out for the little guy, did you ever stop to consider the fact that vomiting all over the steps of the Federal Building as a form of protest ultimately punishes the building's cleaning crew?
Peaceful protest is a powerful and important way to voice concern, and I respect those people who are doing it in an appropriate manner. But the deliberate logjamming of main streets, violent outbursts and misdirected aggressions aren't doing anything but alienating everyone else in this town, including those who agree with your beliefs. As the legendary Das EFX once rapped, chiggidy-check yoself before you wreck yoself.
I saw a heated argument between an anti-war protestor and a pedestrian in San Francisco on TV this morning. The pedestrian yelled that many people sacrificed their lives and fought for the freedom of this country, and the protestor yelled back, "that's what I am doing, too." Don't kid yourself, pal. It's your constitutional right to hold a sign that says "No War" on the corner of 5th and Market, but don't think that gesture compares in any way to risking your young life to withstand gunfire, mortar fire, missile attacks and sandstorms in the middle of a desert 7,000 miles from your home. Your courage, commitment and sacrifice isn't even in the same fucking ballpark as these soldiers, so just wave your sign and stop kidding yourself.
Not to keep shitting on the protestors, but here's an interesting thing to think about: Would the protestors give their own lives for the rights of people that have beliefs opposite their own? Would a single one of them take a bullet so that Rush Limbaugh could keep gabbing or the NRA could keep on keepin' on? Highly unlikely, but people have essentially done that for them.
"Shock" and "awe" are probably not the most appropriate adjectives to describe what it's like to watch bombs rain down on your hometown. "Pissed off" and "scared shitless" are probably more like it. Calling it a "shock and awe" campaign just makes the powers that be and the media seem heartless and stupid. So stupid that it's giving the action of calling french fries "Freedom Fries" a serious run for its money.
I realize he's got a tough job and he's probably been operating on 4 minutes of sleep for the past week, but what's the deal with Aaron Brown's smarm-grin? He always seems to bust it out at the most inappropriate times, like while he's interviewing the parents of a soldier who's just been captured and reportedly executed in public. I figure it's an involuntary facial tic, like George W's permanent smirk. Fuck it nonetheless.
In my mind (and apparently in Ari Fleischer's as well, which makes me feel weird), there is a time and a place to publicly protest our government's actions, and this isn't it. The war has started, anti-Americanism across the globe is swelling and I'm sure we'll see a few more attacks on this country over the next hundred years. We're all in this together now, so let's all study hard, have some faith in one another, smack the parquet with both hands and D-up.
