Robin Cox – 12/27/05

This page was last updated on December 29, 2005.

Patriotism redefined; Robin Cox; Beaver County Times; December 27, 2005.

Below is a copy of the letter as I submitted it. I got the idea for the letter when I wrote a critique of a letter by Thomas Finch.

Let’s look at some actions recently referred to as patriotic.

· Taking a position whose success requires our country’s failure in Afghanistan and Iraq.

· If you’re a former U.S. Attorney General, becoming a member of Saddam Hussein’s defense team.

· Voting for a war when you believed being a “hawk” would help your election prospects, but now claiming you were duped because you believe that vote may hurt your next campaign.

· Giving an anti-war congressman 24x7 coverage when he says we’re losing in Iraq and repeats his old call to cut and run, while ignoring a Democrat senator who returns from Iraq and reports “progress is visible and practical.”

· Reporting every bad thing occurring in Iraq and Afghanistan while refusing to report the good. When forced into reporting something good – like an election, demeaning it by claiming the next milestone is the “real test.” When the next “real test” is met, demeaning it and repeating the process.

· Barring U.S. military recruiters from high school and college campuses.

· Asserting a teenager interested in enlisting in the Marines “was probably brought up to be a two-faced traitor to his country.”

· On the floor of the Senate, comparing our soldiers to “Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others – that had no concern for human beings.”

· If you’re a senator and former presidential candidate, alleging American soldiers are “terrorizing [Iraqi] kids and children [and] women.”

· If you’re an anti-war congressman, telling the enemy our combat troops are “broken, worn out” and “living hand to mouth.”

· To make sure people don’t get the wrong idea from the above “patriotic” acts, assuring everyone that despite not supporting anything they’re doing, you “support the troops.”