Cuckoo's nest in Crawford

Is it demented or is it stupid? According to an AP report in Florida Today, Gregg Garvey of Keystone Heights near Gainesville, Fla., who lost his 23-year-old son to battle in Iraq in 2003 has joined the war protests outside the president's Texas ranch -- but as a supporter of Bush and the military.

He says people have had enough Bush bashing, and that Cindy Sheehan's protest "does not represent all of America."

Indeed, she does not represent all of America. There are, statistically speaking, the 5.5% with IQ’s below 75, some of whom might be expected to follow Garvey’s train of thought; but it’s harder to enumerate the amoral, the irrational and the mendacious as accurately. We do however, have such things as the latest Gallup poll showing Bush’s overall approval rating at a new low of 40%. If 60% disapprove, we can at least say that Cindy comes closer to representing a majority than Gregg.

It would be unfair to conjecture too widely about why Mr. Garvey appreciates having lost his son for a cause that’s yet to be admitted to. It’s possible that he just can’t face having participated in his son’s death and so must think it was worthwhile to preserve his sanity and it’s possible that he’s one of the many examples of Homo Stultus who just like war and can’t feel manly or right about things unless there’s one going on. I don’t know and I won’t speculate further.

I do know that the instant, knee-jerk reaction of the “support the troops” parrots is an attempt to cover up the lack of support from those who are responsible for giving it and shifting the blame to dissenters. I do know that “supporting the troops” was the tool used to rally support for the endless Viet Nam debacle and I do have a firm enough grasp on logic to see that such an idea makes all wars self-justifying and self-perpetuating.

What is neither demented nor stupid, is the Administration’s lack of support for the troops. The attempt to cut combat pay and benefits, the inability to provide reinforcements; the failure of strategy, the failure of intelligence, the false premises, the vague objectives and the failure to supply sufficient or correct equipment while handing out nearly limitless benefits to the most profitable corporations on earth? That’s just criminal.