The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel
...is to wrap yourself in the cloak of patriotism by saying that any criticism of the war is a criticism of the soldiers.
Funnily enough, that's what Dick Cheney did in his speech yesterday.
For example:
What we’re hearing now is some politicians contradicting their own statements and making a play for political advantage in the middle of a war. The saddest part is that our people in uniform have been subjected to these cynical and pernicious falsehoods day in and day out. American soldiers and Marines are out there every day in dangerous conditions and desert temperatures – conducting raids, training Iraqi forces, countering attacks, seizing weapons, and capturing killers – and back home a few opportunists are suggesting they were sent into battle for a lie.It takes some chutzpah, saying that opponents of the war are guilty of "cynical and pernicious falsehoods"....because doesn't that pretty well describe the Administration's case for war? And isn't that the reason those soldiers and Marines are out there every day, in dangerous conditions and desert temperatures, etc., etc.?
Five more killed and eleven wounded yesterday, by the way....(a story that doesn't even make the front page of NYTimes.com.). We're getting from 2000 to 2100 pretty fast.
