Another Voice (criticism of hypocritical peace protesters in Ithaca)

Last week I wrote a column that set out to have some fun with the antiwar movement. I had been increasingly irritated by the low level of discourse that characterized much of the protest rhetoric: Criticism of the president's foreign policy agenda degenerated very quickly into slurs and name-calling.

And while such critics consistently characterized the position of the administration as motivated almost entirely by a combination of cynicism, religious fanaticism, diplomatic failure, fascism, racism and craving for personal gain, they of course saw their own positions as motivated by pure principle and the power of moral righteousness alone.

But "cheap shots will only reap cheap shots in return," as some little-known writer once said, and anyone's position can be mocked by reducing it to shallow, self-interested caricature. So I thought I'd give them a taste of what they'd been dishing out all those months and see how they liked it. They didn't.

My favorite response came from a reader who complained that I had done a "hatchet job" on the protestors and then, doubly blind to the irony, went on to suggest -- in the very next sentence no less -- that writing such things qualified me as "a fascist."

You writing from Ithaca reminds me of a story.

A wise and favored King lived in a castle surrounded by villagers who loved him. He ruled very wisely and they prospered for a very long time. One day spies cam in from another city and poised the well such that it caused insanity to all who drank the water from it. However, the king, having his own well, did not drink it. The townsfolk soon became mad and destroyed the town and gathered together and decided that the King was evil. One day, as he often did, the King went for a walk in the town to talk to his subjects. The townspeople, being insane, talked against their King, criticized him and plotted to kill him. The King baffled by all the animosity, sat down to take a drink from the city well. The king became quite insane and the townspeople rejoiced at their King regaining his "sanity." The next day, the enemy came in and laid waste to the town, the King, the castle, and killed all the inhabitants.

Sometimes it seems like the entire world is against you. They are not. You are the only sane one in a crowd of insanity. Keep fighting the good fight.

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