Reason #101 Why I Don't Watch TV: The Spin Makes Me Dizzy

So, I'm watching actual broadcast television at home the other night for the first time in, I don't know, months and months, and a commercial catches my attention. The is particular commercial features a man who served in Iraq (his name is John Kriesel, by the way), and who lost both legs in the process, telling us to support the war there.

He says he joined after 9/11 for the sake of his sons, which is a noble thing indeed. He says he knows "what he lost" (his legs), which is tragic and heroic at the same time. So now I'm watching intently, this man has paid a high price and (apparently, I can't say for sure from a 30 second TV spot) served honorably. I may not agree with the war, but my beef in with the men who sent the troops there with lies and poorly conceived plans, not with the troops themselves, who are only doing their duty. He is a hero like so many others.

But then he drops two bombs:

First he claims that "if we pull out now, everything [he] has given and sacrificed will mean nothing". Second, he says "THEY attacked US". He ends by saying "this is no time to quit, this is no time for politics".

If that doesn't make your stomach churn, you're not paying attention.

First, the charge that leaving Iraq will render this man's loss meaningless. This is a bald faced attempt to use emotion to push a political agenda. It is also untrue, or at least misdirected. The implication is that the people who are protesting the war, who think that it is a bad idea and want to bring the troops home, are dishonoring the troops by doing so. That logic simply doesn't track. By serving honorably and following the orders of his superiors, this man's sacrifice - and that of others - is patently meaningful, and nothing can take that away. Right or wrong, his nation called and he answered and he did his part. For that he is a hero, and nothing can take that away. It is cheap and dishonest to claim otherwise.

The real question is whether or not the entire endeavor, and the sacrifices made, were worthwhile. If invading Iraq was a bad idea, if being there is a bad idea, then the whole enterprise has not been worthwhile, and has been so from the beginning. If all of that is true, then this man's sacrifice is already a waste and a tragedy, and nothing that happens now will change that either. Directing that kind of anger and frustration at people who are pointing out, after the fact, that the whole thing was a mistake is misguided. It's the people who sent the troops into Iraq in the first place that are to blame. They have the blood of 2000+ Americans on their hands and should answer for that.

If I tell you to cut off your arm because something good will happen, and afterwards someone else points out that I was lying, would you blame them for rendering your actions worthless? No, of course not, it's my fault, not theirs. If the decision to pull out is made, then yes that is a statement that the sacrifices made were not worthwhile (though not meaningless), but it is the people who sent our troops into this situation who are at fault, not the people trying to correct the mistake, if there was one.

The second statement mentioned above is far worse, because it is an outright deception meant to perpetrate a lie, and is thus despicable. Iraq did not attack us, we attacked them. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Nothing at all, period. If you believe that it did, then you have been had. Don't believe me? President Bush himself has said that there is no connection, though only after implying such a connection repeatedly. For good measure, here's Dick Cheney denying a connection as well (video), all the while attempting (poorly) a Clinton-esque attempt to make two issues out of one in order to save face.

Let's be clear: Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, they did not attack us, we attacked them. Right or wrong, we are the aggressor, not them.

Given that a high percentage of Americans still believe this nonsense, commercials like this are obvious attempts to play not only on the nation's emotions, but also its ignorance. In effect, they are threatening us with the "unpatriotic" label by exercising our rights and disagreeing with them, and then saying we're too stupid to think it out for ourselves. It's offensive and disgusting.

Ending the commercial with the words "this is no time for politics" is just icing on the cake. The ad was part of a $15,000,000 ad campaign by a group call "Freedom's Watch", a Republican lobbying group headed up, in part, by Ari Fleischer, one time White House Press Secretary. This is a man who once said: "If Saddam Hussein indicates that he has weapons of mass destruction and that he is violating United Nations resolutions, then we will know that Saddam Hussein again deceived the world. If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world." He operates solely on rhetoric and political dogma, twisting reality to fit within predetermined political "truths", rather than the other way around. Every word he says is tainted by politics.

Watch the ad below and see for yourself. Most importantly, get the facts and think for yourself.



By the way: They're running ads to support a war? What has the political system in this country come to that wars are being branded and marketed? For members of a party that supports free markets, the current administration is doing an awful lot to subvert the will and judgement of the people. Simply disgusting.

EDIT: By the way, that tag at the end "Call your Congressman and Senator 1-877-222-8001" is another deception. The number goes to an operator who asks you if you think the war is a good thing or not. If you say no, you get hung up on, if you say yes, they forward your call to Congress. That's clever, actually.

The real numbers, by the way: Senate (202)224-3121, House of Representatives (202)225-3121