Hypocrisy

As so often happens, we in America are forced to turn to foreign news sources for intelligent, in-depth coverage of our own politics. One such source is the The Guardian's Gary Younge who has been videoing reports of the recent election. Day 5 caught my attention.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/flash/0,,1935331,00.html

Younge visits a couple whose son is serving in Iraq. The wife describes how others react to hearing this news. They say how glad they are that their son isn't in Iraq, and even friends can't bear to hear her cry with fear and either change the subject or hang up the phone. These are all people, she notes, who support the war effort, and think it's the right course for America.

This is a phenomenon particularly associated with this war. Millions of Americans 'support' the war, but would baulk at actually going and fighting in Iraq. Mothers vote for politicians who, in turn, vote for war, but these same mothers would never send their own offspring to die; other people's children are preferrable. They put a magnetic ribbon on their car, but can't bear to even listen to the fears of a friend whose son is in mortal danger; it makes the whole thing a little too real.

It's much easier to make the 'tough choice' to support a war that is completely unreal. Other people's children die, and if the images on TV are too depressing you can just flip to American Idol. The wealthy (whose offspring are not serving) have not even had to suffer high taxes to pay for the war they say is so necessary. Instead, they gave themselves a hefty payout and cut the services that the poor (those who did not enlist, of course) rely on.