What Price Principles?

I am fortunate, for the most part, to have some very intelligent friends. I often query them to determine their stance on current social and political issues. Interestingly, I find that the most progressive –some could read ‘liberal’- friends are the most vocal, strident and confrontational. My conservative –some could read ‘regressive’ friends tend to be less vocal and confrontational. I am extremely curious as to why these differences exist.

Last night, my family got together for a send-off of my grandson who is destined for Iraq.
I have been adamantly opposed to the Iraq war from the beginning and this occurrence intensifies my position. The great dilemma for me is the torturous balance between supporting the troops and opposing the war. It is not a problem for me personally since I find no difficulty in doing both simultaneously. The problem surfaces because the Bush administration has done a superb job of convincing the general public that opposition to the war is unpatriotic and opposition to the war is opposition to the troops. This is nonsense, but this message has much traction among the masses.

Politics, being what it is, requires majority opinion to gain power. To gain this power sophisticated sleight-of-hand public diplomacy is mandatory. In my opinion this is an irrefutable fact. Not so with my progressive friends. Stand on principle, they say, and to hell with those who disagree.

Case in point: Cindy Sheehan, who started a mass movement against the war gained great support for her argument. There was overwhelming sympathy for her crusade. Then she shows up on the floor of the house with a T shirt –during the State Of The Union speech- which highlighted the death toll of our military kids. Then she appears with Hugo Chavez on his podium and congratulates him for his opposition to the U.S. government.

No matter how one thinks about the war and the troops, this, to me is simply stupid public diplomacy. These acts alienated many of her newly-acquired supporters. Is this any way to form a national coalition? My conservative friends say absolutely NO! My liberal friends applaud her courage and her dedication to principle. This division of position is troubling. I don’t think it accurately portrays the greater national Red-Blue division, but it does indicate that political turmoil is on the horizon.

I am more than ever opposed to the Iraq war and the dishonest, bungling administration of the Bush-Chaney Neo-Cons. I implore Ms. Sheehan to rethink her strategy. She has the moral high ground. I beg her not to lose it. I remind my friends that an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. And blind pursuit of principle without regard for dispute leads to anarchy.

The sign on my car now reads: "Till They All Come Home." God bless our troops. This is now very, very personal.