As I suspected, this has become a cause celebre among the righties even though few if any anti-war activists would agree with what he said.
Before you vote in this poll, do the LA Times one on this:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-stein24jan24,0,4137172.column?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
Your OpinionCan you oppose the war in Iraq and still support U.S. troops?
- Yes, the U.S. has a volunteer army, but they were not the decision-makers in going to war.
- No, if you believe the war is wrong then all participants involved share the blame.
- I don't know. Why did you hire Joel Stein again?
While Stein did make some valid points like yellow ribbons can't replace decent veterans benefits, and many of the troops were tricked into believing the war had something to do with 9/11, those points have been made far better by others without points like these:
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.
<snip>
And I've got no problem with other people — the ones who were for the Iraq war — supporting the troops. If you think invading Iraq was a good idea, then by all means, support away. Load up on those patriotic magnets and bracelets and other trinkets the Chinese are making money off of.
But I'm not for the war.
And being against the war and saying you support the troops is one of the wussiest positions the pacifists have ever taken — and they're wussy by definition. It's as if the one lesson they took away from Vietnam wasn't to avoid foreign conflicts with no pressing national interest but to remember to throw a parade afterward.
<snip>
But blaming the president is a little too easy. The truth is that people who pull triggers are ultimately responsible, whether they're following orders or not. An army of people making individual moral choices may be inefficient, but an army of people ignoring their morality is horrifying. An army of people ignoring their morality, by the way, is also Jack Abramoff's pet name for the House of Representatives.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-stein24jan24,0,4137172.column?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
I think it's important for Freepers and others to see our response to this.