I Raq and Roll

Have you guys heard Clint Black's little ditty "I Raq and Roll?" The
catchy little tune he plans on crooning at the "Dancing on Their Graves" Shindig planned in Washington to "commemorate" the fourth anniversary of September 11, 2001.

When I first saw the lyrics to this song, my intention was to pick it apart and poke fun about how ridiculous each line was, but I got hung up on this one.

You can wave your signs in protest
against america taking stands
the stands america's taken
are the reason that you can

There is so much wrong with this, that I couldn't decide on just one angle to take, and figured it deserved it's very own post. And as a matter of fact, this is an argument I frequently hear from the rabid Right, those who simply regurgitate talking points without having a clue what they are saying.

As you can plainly see, George Bush is fighting tooth and nail against speaking with Cindy Sheehan and allowing her to take a stand against an unjust war and the senseless killing of her son.

The Bush Administration has threatened to have her arrested on the grounds that she poses a national security risk. And how ironic is it, that in the same week as this story hit the papers, a CIA field commander admitted that they let Osama bin Laden slip away in the mountains of Tora Bora in 2001 and did not choose to use the necessary troops to catch him. Which one do you think poses more of a threat to national security, Sheehan or bin Laden?

As far as rights to protest, gay rights, civil rights, reproductive rights, religious rights and voting rights, this has got to be one of the most repressive regimes the U.S. has known. The Administration is fighting tirelessly to take these rights away from us. The way the Bush Administration is handling terrorism is detrimental to freedom and liberty here in the U.S. The Patriot Act takes away our freedom and liberty. It certainly doesn't defend freedom and liberty. And for Clint Black to allude to the fact that it does, shows his truly extraordinary stupidity.

The idea that they are somehow "defending freedom" in their silly war in Iraq is ludicrous! Their doing it not to just line their own pockets, but to stuff their pockets full of oil money. The war in Iraq has nothing to do with freedom or liberty or even with fighting the real bad guys. And a few of the consequences of this diversion from fighting terrorism, is that we are spreading Islamic fundamentalism, nurturing a breeding ground for bad guys, and taking away boatloads of freedoms from women in Iraq.

Not only that, the whole statement reeks of bizarre twisted circular logic that doesn't make any sense. You want to protest. Our military fought for your right to protest. Our government allows us to protest. But please be a dear and hush and kindly accept what the government is doing. You can't have it both ways.

As Thomas Jefferson said "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."