House on Fire

Bush and the Rovians are at it again.

Apparently, telling the truth about the war in which we unnecessarily invaded a country that did not attack us, posed no threat to us, and was not about to pose any threat, is "not supporting the troops," it's "comforting the enemy."

Root, Root, Root for the Home Team

Here’s a sample from this morning’s Meet the Press

I don't see how he can become the anti-war candidate, not when our troops are over there. History shows that you're rooting for success when your troops are somewhere.

And the Frame Is...

John Kerry is "the anti-war candidate," who isn't "rooting for success."

This is meant to imply: You cannot find a particular war intolerable while supporting the brave people who were sent to fight it.

Deep in the frame of war is the belief that the soldiers themselves are the war, so if you're against that particular war, you must be against the soldiers. By being against this wrong war, they say, John Kerry is rooting against the home team - just like a Yankees fan in Boston.

By their logic, unnecessarily endangering our brave volunteers and countless innocent civilians is "support." Standing behind the continuation of an unnecessary conflagration is the only way to provide support.

Burn Baby, Burn!

This gives me a much better understanding of arsonists. By starting unnecessary fires, endangering the brave firefighters and nearby civilians, arsonists are not psychotic criminals, they're just supporting our firemen!

Being against arson is anti-firefighter. If you dare express anger against the fire or the arsonist while the firemen are putting the fire out, you must be anti-firefighter. The only way to be pro-firefighter is to be pro-fire. Anything else is unpatriotic.

In the world of the extreme right, sending soldiers to their deaths unnecessarily, is support. Cutting soldiers' combat pay is support. Cutting their insurance benefits is support. Closing the VA hospitals that treat their injuries is support. Refusing to listen to the Senior Command on the ground is support. Sending the person who had a paycheck away for 18 months or longer, impoverishing his family is support. Here's an excerpt from one typical letter:

The husband is a national guardsman. His civilian job makes 80K and his wife makes 60K. They have two children. So the husband goes off to serve his country, taking a 65K loss of income, deploys to Iraq learning that he is to be activated for a year, returning [to the states] only to find out that he is to be activated for up tp 5 years stationed in the states. ... For anyone that can do the math, that's more than a huge hit for his family. That's devastating.

And finally, bringing them home alive and uninjured is anti-soldier. I guess soldiers are supposed to be dead.

The administration's "support" is as sturdy as cement. Overshoes. In the middle of the East River...

War is not a game. War is blood and death, destruction and pain. War against innocents breeds hate and terrorists.

We need a President who knows the difference.