But the truth of the matter is, they hate us, and they hate freedom, and they hate people who embrace freedom. And they're willing to kill innocent Iraqis because Iraqis are willing to be free. - Der Führer, 5 May 2004How many times have we heard the shrub shrug off resistance to his imperial policies as merely the expression of those who "hate freedom"? Evidently, there are a great many people who hate freedom, so I'm calling for a show of hands. Who here hates freedom and would honestly prefer to live as a slave? What? Not one? How can this be? Maybe it's a uniquely Middle Eastern thing; they, unlike the rest of the world, do in fact long for bondage.
What does it say about us as a country that the shrub and Karl Rove believe - and evidently with some justification - that we'll just swallow this patently absurd bilge that resistance to US occupation reflects an innate hatred of freedom? Just who is stupid enough to buy that crock? Why don't journalists and/or commentators ever call him on that? I mean, his entire explanation for where we stand in Iraq today is the flag-waving equivalent of stating that the moon is made of green cheese, yet no one ever stops to question why he thinks there are all of these people out there who hate freedom, but apparently have no complaints with respect to being bombed by US missiles or kidnapped and tortured by US forces. Oh yes, that's right, I keep forgetting: they love slavery over there, so what we would consider abusive treatment is in fact manna from heaven to those guys, what they really are worried about is the prospect of suffering freedom. Yes, well, I can see where that would be a cruel blow to inflict upon anyone. :eyes:
I'm curious, what do DUers think, would this sort of blatant employment of patriotic rhetoric as a weapon against critical thinking (or even the basic sentient awareness enjoyed even by vegetables) work as well in Europe as it seems to work here? If not, why not? Are we just uniquely gullible amongst the nations of the world? Or, of it would work, why hasn't Tony Blair used such tactics to good effect to quell dissent within his country? Any thoughts?