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They put on an impressive display of authoritative men with many bright ribbons, shiny medals and other trappings to persuade the public of the righteousness of their cause and the justice of their actions.
And boy, does it work!
Folks you think should know better are gulled totally. Fed a steady stream of whiz-bang weapons, thrilling explosions, and smiling men and women in uniform, our society has invested itself so totally in the Myth of Redemptive Violence that merely suggesting there might be another way for people to settle their differences invites the hysteria of the true believers. You might think the polygamists in Texas are harsh on apostates, but watch what happens when someone who doesn't advocate violence accidentally slips onto your teevee screen. First, they're usually outnumbered, at least three to one. Second, the questions, innuendo, and outright character assassination are constant and only get more vicious as the time, however short, goes along. The most charitable disagreement will be that an advocate for peace is a dupe or naive. But the trip from there to questions about courage, manhood (whatever the fuck that means anymore), loyalty, patriotism and mental health is a very short one. If such an interloper survives a commercial break, there's going to be blood on the floor, because Might Maketh Right, so mote it be!
It's far too easy to blame this solely on the Bush administration. The craven depths of eagerness and sycophancy the major media outlets in this country were willing to plumb surely served a symbiotic purpose for the administration and the media. Both sides achieved their aims and goals, and the Times gets points, I guess, for grudgingly admitting that they too were riding this gravy train to Hell.
This is a valuable article, but it could have spilled over into terrific with one simple little step: One breath, one hint, the slightest declaration of intention by the media not to be suckered again. None of the folks quoted in the article betray the least bit of regret, or resolve to be more careful about checking their sources in the future. So the next time? Next time they'll do it all over again to further rack and ruin, and years later there will be another long article about how badly the media was played. By then we'll have filled up a few hundred thousand more graves, and the High Priests of Redemptive Violence will have profitably won another round.
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