Thursday, March 24, 2011

Apparently "Peace" Is Not The Answer, Either

On my way in to work this morning, I again saw one of the myriad of "War Is Not the Answer" bumperstickers looking me self-righteously in the face.

Of course, now that the President they elected who got a Nobel Peace Prize before he got his desk arranged in the Oval Office has lobbed a barrage of tomahawk missiles into Libya "for humanitarian purposes" (I guess leaving Saddam in power would have been "humanitarian"?) ... can we at least agree that before we decide what is and isn't the answer that we should define the question and pair them up first?

I mean, "10" is not the answer either.  Except when it is.

9 comments:

Whitehawk said...

Well of course war is the answer only when Mr. Obama says it's the answer.

It would be instructive to ask the Polish people who remember WWII if war is a legitimate answer. The same of the French, Austrians and Balkans who are old enough. The South Koreans, the Philipinos, the Afganis, the Iraqis would have something interesting to say I'm sure.

Unfortunately sometimes war is the only answer but it has to be worth the loss of life and planned well. The objectives have to be clear and the exit strategy in place.

With this said, Mr. Obama's shoot from the hip, constantly changing objectives make me think that in this case war could be catastrophic.

tim said...

“War is Not the Answer…for the simple minded”

War, what is it good for? Hmmm…let’s see…

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?


And the rest of the war mongering anthem -

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.




O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0194015.html

Severian said...

The other day I asked a leftist acquaintance where I could get one of those "support the troops, end the war" bumper stickers I used to see so many of. Because, I explained, I've finally seen the light -- I'm against imperialist unilateralist cowboy wars of aggression without congressional resolutions, exit strategies, EU signoff, UN mandates, etc. It's not that I'm not patriotic and don't support the US military, I told him -- it's just that I can't see expending America's blood and treasure for some ill-defined, open-ended political grandstanding that a sitting president is using to distract from his poor domestic showing.

It didn't do a damn bit of good, but it was kinda fun, in a sick sort of way.

philmon said...

I'm seriously considering having a "Ten is NOT the answer" bumpersticker made up.

philmon said...

Heh. Updated with my new bumpersticker design. Not "Ten" ... which I still want to make. But this would get the point across right now a lot quicker.

Makestickers.Com. Feel free to heist this image.

Cylarz said...

Of course "10" isn't the answer. "42" is the answer. Duh!

Anonymous said...

True story - American Idol did Motown this past week, and the results show opened with a montage over the music to, of all things, Edwin Starr's "War" - mere days after we started hucking missiles at other folks' stuff in Libya. Beautiful moment. The producers are on their game over there.

Whenever I hear that song on the radio, I like to sing my own lyrics.

War! Hunh. What is it good for?
Liberating EUROPE!
Say it again!
War! Whoawhoawhoa What is it good for?
Overthrowing TYRANTS!
Listen to me...


(w/v - alogy - you can have an alogy, or the alogy, or many alogies.)

philmon said...

War!
With open eyes.
Can mean protection
of our allies.
War!
Stops Tyrrany

War puts fear
In evil's eyes
It means we won't just
Sit idly by
And let them play us
Like ignorant fools
Useful idiots
Are tyrrany's tools
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Anonymous said...

Good gawd, y'all!

\m/