For Independence Day 2008: The Acrid Stench of Treason

The Russians call World War II “The Great Patriotic War.” The current longest of our wars could well be called the same thing. It is a war that originated in the orgy of patriotism (”U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”) that followed the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and has been sustained by the patriotism of those who support it (”Our soldiers are defending American freedom”) and false promises of some latter-day prophets (”We are winning the war in Iraq.”) It is likely to be revived by the Iranian attack that the McCainites see as their main chance of winning the election. The president was right in his spontaneous reaction when he first heard of the attack — “This is war!” The subtext was, “Now I’ll be a wartime president and people will forget about Florida and how Antonin Scalia stole the election.” The Arabs had... [read full story]