Little Green Footballs

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Déjà vu

Senior Military Analyst Charles Johnson approvingly quotes a U.S. Army sergeant, who writes,

The crazy thing of it all is that the American people have not even been asked to sacrifice a single thing. It’s not like World War II, where people rationed food and turned in cars to be made into metal for tanks. The American people have not been asked to sacrifice anything. Unless you are in the military or the family member of a servicemember, it's life as usual...the war doesn’t affect you.

Which sounds vaguely familiar.

Not that the mind-set of the average lizardoid has changed much over the past 1.5 years. To wit:
#17 Cartman 2/3/2007 09:49AM PST

Liberals just love sacrifice.

As long as it doesn't entail their own.


And when someone had the temerity to provide an accurate summary of Sgt. Jeffers' post thus:
#50 bos 2/3/2007 10:26AM PST

So, America has lost the will to fight for listening to the antiwar voices.

Also because they weren't asked to sacrifice.

That's pretty much the summary.

I sympathize with the writer's position, but I'm not sure this sort of message will get too far.

I've always felt that Bush never asked people to sacrifice. One of his first messages after 9/11 was to keep shopping.


the response was swift and unanimous: that the summarizer is a "moron" and an "idiotarian" and a "moby," worthy of being "bitch-slapped." And, moreover, that any effort to increase government revenue to support returning veterans is bound to fail, because "I know how to spend my money better than the government does."

Some World War IV this is turning out to be.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The crazy thing of it all is that the American people have not even been asked to sacrifice a single thing.

Except the lives of their sons and daughters but apart from that he's right....the American people aren't sacrificing anything.

V said...

Um, he does address that issue -- in his very next sentence.

Anonymous said...

....but he puts it in a way that almost makes it as if the rest of the population cares little for the loss of life and sacrifice.

Anonymous said...

How about the sacrifice of a generation's conscience?

eBay said...

The point is still true though - for *most* Americans, the Iraq war has done little to effect their day to day lives.