Logic Times

Badges of the Simpleminded

Posted by Aslan, 07/04/05, 10:51am. Comments (5)

The political Left in this country gets too much credit for being intellectual. The stereotype is familiar: academic, socially responsible, erudite political liberals on one hand opposed by greedy, warmongering, Bible-thumping political conservatives on the other. But the description favored by the Left, the label that coats their irrational views with a sort of Teflon resistance to challenge by brutish conservatives is the term "Intellectual."

Yet intellectual dishonesty is their coin-of-the-realm. With the Iraq War, for example, one sees intellectual dishonesty on display every day:

After 9/11, criticism of Bush for not listening to key aides and not anticipating disaster.
After the Iraq War, criticism of Bush for listening to key aides and anticipating disaster.

Before the war, total agreement on the WMD threat posed by Saddam Hussein and the need for intervention.
After the war, anger that the WMDs were not found, criticism of the Bush administration for asserting there were WMDs in the first place, and criticism of Bush for intervening.

Before the war, no extraordinary concern for the thousands of Iraqi civilians murdered per month by Saddam Hussein.
After the invasion, frantic concern for hundreds of Iraqi civilians killed per month as a result of collateral damage during a conflict to secure their freedom.

Before the war, no interest in the systematic torture of innocent Iraqis by Saddam Hussein.
After the invasion, obsession with the isolated and mild mistreatment of Iraqi criminals at Abu Ghraib.

While dangerous and morally reprehensible, one can at least admire the convoluted logic of the Left and the brashness with which it is waved under the noses of disbelieving Americans. But has anyone considered that many on the Left are just…not very bright?

Consider the following bumper stickers, proudly displayed by allegedly intellectual Lefties:

Seems hard to criticize such a noble sentiment, but it is not just a sentiment, it is a political statement and an extraordinarily mindless one at that. The point of such a political statement is to stake out a position opposed by another group. For example, a Pro-Life bumper sticker expresses a sentiment, yes, but also stakes out ground opposed by the Pro-Abortion crowd. A John Kerry bumper sticker endorses a political candidate opposed by supporters of George W. Bush.

bumper sticker makes a critical assumption: that there is a faction of people who dislike PEACE, who support a war not because it has the ultimate objective of eliminating savage enemies and bringing about peace, but because they like or enjoy the actual process of war. And this in not just semantics. A

bumper sticker, for example, makes the further assumption that the "other side" thinks killing is a good thing, that there is no distinction between killing the hijacker pilot on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania and killing a secretary on floor 105 of the World Trade Center, that there is no difference between defending life from unprovoked attack and premeditated murder. A

bumper sticker offers a further assumption: that America is the only catalyst for war. Think about that! The American military industrial complex, frustrated by inactivity for some period of time, initiates a war for the purposes of staying sharp and developing capacity. The foe is irrelevant and could be selected at random. With regards to the War on Terror, no provocation was involved.

bumper sticker angles off in a different direction asserting that war never actually deflects hostility or defends innocents, but instead is strictly an inferior blunt tool never worth using, like a brutish boy on the block who solves every problem – jealousy over a neighbor’s new bike, taunting from a little sister, the need for help with homework – with direct and primitive violence.

Finally, we finish with

which makes the horrific assumption that there is a group of people who actually love war. This must not be confused with those who love and admire the military or those who love the camaraderie of their brothers in arms, who excel at what they do and are proud of their skill. Even these hardened warriors hate war, for they intimately know the bitterest cost of war – the death of their brothers.

In the end, these bumper stickers are a badge of simple-minded shallowness that is pathetic and embarrassing. For a human being to form a value system that finds its expression in statements like:

is frightening.

The historical ignorance that can allow a citizen of this country to squat down behind a car and affix these stickers to the bumper

is a criminal indictment of our educational system.

Personally, I find myself compelled to look into these cars with a fascination of rube on the midway of the carnival freak show who expects to see a tentacled horror behind the wheel. Alas, it is only simplemindedness on display.

Comments

1: Kruelhunter

July 4, 2005 12:30pm EST

Does the phrase "over educated idiot" ring any bells out there?

2: Evntprodcr

July 4, 2005 12:37pm EST

Weak, not nearly as good as some of your articles. You have left the highway of provocative thought and steered into criticism and conjecture. Thumbs down, nothing new and no insight was revealed.

3: William

July 4, 2005 12:37pm EST

I found your article quite amusing.

I think one just has to listen to the PETA people make public statement on TV or perhaps listen to any of the interviews of the musicians at the G-8 concert this past holiday in order to wade into the complex and sophisticated mind of the liberal. I have to shake my head, and say "what the...?"

But I think what amazes me most is the KERRY bumper sticker I still see on cars. Why would someone want to leave a sticker of losing candidate on their car for? Why wouldn't you feel embarrassed ? (Don't you see people laughing at you?) I can't imagine any conservative leaving a DOLE sticker on their car or a sign in their yard back in 1996 when he lost to Clinton.

{Aslan: I must admit that I cannot help thinking the same thing when I see a Kerry bumper sticker. I ALWAYS take a close look at those drivers and usually shake my head.}

4: Q Radical

July 4, 2005 12:37pm EST

Very good, but not quite there. No question the PEACE bumper sticker is meaningless, like putting a bumper stick that says AIR or HEALTH on your car – so what, you support something that everyone wants. It ignores methods. They are arguing for PEACE through passivity, while we are arguing for PEACE through strength. Now, here is a news flash for liberals: THE ONLY WAY PEACE THROUGH PASSIVITY CAN WORK IS IF THERE ARE NO BAD GUYS/BAD NATIONS OUT THERE. But there are, morons. Therefore, only PEACE through strength can work.

{Aslan: Well said, Q. Some might argue that pacifism has had success with Ghandi and Martin Luther King, but that is civil disobedience rather than geopolitics.}

5: Jayne McIntyre

July 4, 2005 12:37pm EST

eeeeeeekkk...............I have to vent. I can just see the headlines in the LA Times tonight: GEORGE BUSH CAUSES TERROR ATTACK IN LONDON. Arianna Huffington will call for a summit of the terrorists to see how we can cave in to them and Ted Kennedy will rant on the Senate floor today calling for the USA to withdraw our troops from Iraq immediately.

Oh my God...are we the only nation in the world who gets it? Do the European nations think as long as the terror attacks are occurring in Asia and Africa it’s not their problem? What is it going to take for the rest of the world to realize that the only way to defeat terrorism is to stand together?

I just got to the office and I am already hearing comments that are making my blood boil. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for listening. Now I can get my coffee and get to work.

{Aslan: We are always glad to be of service!}