Out of Line?

A belligerent state permits itself every such misdeed,
every such act of violence, as would disgrace the individual
--Sigmund Freud

The present crisis is of an exceptional nature and we
. . .must either pursue the path of constant conflict
and continuous wars, which are the result of our everyday action,
or else see the causes of war and turn our back upon them
--J. Krishnamurti (1948)

We are all in a post-hypnotic trance induced in early infancy
--R.D. Laing
__________

Michael Doughty, said something provocative in a National Public Radio interview recently.

Doughty is the former front man of "slacker jazz" band Soul Coughing and the son of a 32-year Army veteran. He was moved to write the song "Ft. Hood" following a visit with veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center ("Blanked out eyes and the blanked out sound / See them coming back, motionless, in an airport lounge.")

Doughty said, "I am so sick of people saying they support the veterans, but not the war. That makes no sense" That makes sense.

This is not to detract from the extreme bravery of the men and women serving on the frontlines. These servicemen and women can never be remunerated adequately for the job they do -- GWB is making sure of that.

Rather, this is, at core, a rational statement -- war cannot be conducted without the participation of soldiers. So while it is a radical statement, it is also a fact: if you support soldiers, you support what soldiers do.

The liberal mantra is, "We support the troops, but not the war." But what if something even more radical was felt and understood. What if people said, "We support none of it; not the troops, not the war. Nothing"?

That would be something other than the traditional drone. It would not be obedient; it would be stepping out of line.

Could the discourse change?