|
From the Boulder Daily Camera, by Paul Campos, professor of law
I'm standing in the parking lot of an enormous shopping mall, staring at a Ford Excursion. A 7700 pound hunk of metal... The most awe-inspiring feature of this particular Excursion is a plastic decal shaped like a yellow ribbon... To the owner of the Ford Excursion who implores us to "Support Our Troops" I say this: You sir (or madam), are a monumental jackass. At this moment, American troops are risking their lives to protect your inalienable right to live your life in an impenetrable fog of selfishness and stupidity. If not for the need to service this grotesque monstrosity on which you squander your money and that of the taxpayers who subsidize your comfortably numb life, those troops you support would not be getting killed and maimed in a country I doubt you could find on a map. I sometimes wonder if anything short of dynamite can shatter your complacent fantsy that the Iraq war is about bringing democracy to the Middle East. The truth is that every Arab from Casablanca to Khartoum could be cutting his brother's throat, and yet this would remain a matter of indifference to our government if not for the need to ensure that you will be able to fill your Excursion with cheap gasoline. To expect others to sacrifice everything for you, while advertising by your own behavior that you will sacrifice exactly nothing for them, is the height of political and social immorality. And to do so while claiming your political views are an expression of "moral values" is an obscene joke. Drive off, Ford Excursion. Head back to your gated community, to patiently await the Rapture, or the next Nordstrom's sale...
|