The War on "You Are an Idiot'

Okay, in all my time blogging, I haven't spent much time writing about political stuff. That's not to say that I'm shy about my political views in one-on-one conversation, I just never felt a pressing need to exercise my political demons in this format. But today, while watching our president's press conference, after watching our president's address last night, I just can't help but ask this:

Can we please stop talking about winning "The War on Terror"?

Saying that we are waging a war on terror is all fine and good, right up until the point that you think it's an actual war, not a metaphor. Because a war demands a winner and a loser, and let's face it, people---terrorism is not something that you can beat down completely this side of paradise. Terrorism was here before September 11th, and as horrific as that day was, it will not be the last terrorist act. Terrorism isn't a country we can invade, it's not a government we can overthrow, and it's not a border we can move or dissassemble. What a horrible understanding to perpetuate. Saying that we can win a war on terror is like saying we can win a war on the color green. You can rip all the trees and grass up that you want, but let me make you a promise---as long as blue (human nature) and yellow (discontent and/or zealotism) are hanging around, it's going to pop up somewhere.

We are at war, there's no doubt about it. I'm not even going to get into the argument for the war on Iraq as a response to 9/11---it's just too difficult for me to even try to break down that kind of lunacy. I see the lists of soldiers dying in Iraq, and I can't believe the numbers. I've spent several weekends at my folks' house as of late, and every Sunday morning, as we watch the news programs and see the names of the fallen soldiers scroll by on our screen, my dad jumps in and says, "We should all have these men and women on our minds---we should be a country that flies it's flag, that sacrifices, that knows it's at war." Now my dad is a hardcore liberal, so there's anger in his voice---anger that we're in this war to begin with. But I've realized in recent weeks that there is a reason that we aren't acting, as individual citizens, in the sacrificially patriotic way that Americans have stepped up to war in the past. Sure, it's in part because we can be self-absorbed---more interested in spicy Hollywood divorces than in military planning. Moreover, though, I think it all goes back to the line about "winning the war on terror." Fundamentally, we all know that it can't be won. If, at your core, there is something in you that questions, "this is hopeless, isn't it?" one of two things can happen to you that will make you apathetic. You might cling more tightly to the rhetoric that claims that the best defense is an offense, and therefore, the real war is far away, and you don't really have to do anything. On the other hand, you might pull back and feel that there is no point to your sacrifice---you understand something that the government fails to see, and there seems to be no stopping them, so what can you do? Either way, you ache for the soldiers, you cry for the poor and the hurt in the countries being torn apart, and you question what this world is coming to.

Can we change the world? Yes! Can we eliminate suffering, torture, poverty, and disease? Yes! Can we help to bring stability to nations working toward peace? Yes! I believe that the American people, as well as the people of the world, can do tremendous things to change our world. But can we stop individual, secretive, extremist groups for attacking us randomnly and tragically? We can do a lot to curb them. We can do a lot to remove the incentive to attack. But we can't eliminate everyone out there who will do something like this. We can't. And if we can't eliminate them all, we can't win.

So please, I ask those of you in power in our government, please reframe this argument. Because terrorists are focused on fear and death. And I, for one, would like us to at least not give in to their request for our fear. They don't deserve it. And as long as we're all told repeatedly that if we didn't attack them on their turf they would be attacking us on ours, we're just perpetuating that fear. Be afraid, be very afraid...this message brought you by the government of the United States of America. Sorry, Charlie, but that's not the nation I grew up in.

Mr. President, do you want to win "The War on Terror"? Really? Because if you do, here's a great first step: please stop reminding your people that they need to be terrorized. I'm sick of hearing how my generation and those of my younger brothers need to be fighting and dying in a war far away so that I don't have to be afraid of something bad that has been around as long as men have walked the earth. Please, please stop.

Finally, let me just say that I am so thrilled that I lived in Wisconsin long enough last year to help reelect Sen. Russ Feingold. What a national treasure he is. Keep speaking the truth, Senator. We need you.