An Honest, Courageous Liberal

Joel Stein

Finally!

At long last a major Old Media outlet published an opinion piece that shreds the "I support the troops" curtain that many anti-war libs have been hiding behind.

Joel Stein's column, published in the Los Angeles Times yesterday, was a breath of fresh air.

While I despise what Stein says, I commend him for his honesty. In a very real sense, I have far more respect for Stein than for the libs claiming to support the troops while doing everything they can to undermine the war effort and the Commander-in-Chief. Of course, many of those frauds are currently serving in the U.S. House and Senate.

Stein's "Warriors and Wusses" sparked a wildfire.

According to Reuters:

Joel Stein said he has been "bombarded" by hate mail over the incendiary article -- which was headlined "Warriors and Wusses" and held that U.S. soldiers in Iraq were "ignoring their morality" -- but does not regret writing it and stands by the premise.

"I don't support what they are doing, and I don't the see point of putting a big yellow magnet on your car if you don't," Stein told Reuters in an interview. "I don't think (soldiers) are necessarily bad people. I do plenty of things that are wrong too. But I don't agree with what they are doing so I don't see the logic of supporting it."

...Stein said that, despite the fact that his e-mail address was not made public by the paper, he had received some 100 "hate e-mails" by noon.

"They're telling me to leave the country, which sounded good at first because I thought they meant a vacation. But they didn't mean a vacation," he said. The columnist said he suspected the reaction was largely fueled by the Web sites, adding: "My guess is that it will die down pretty quickly."

Stein said he had long considered the issue and that whenever a politician opposes the war but supports the troops "I just always think they are covering their ass."

Asked if he had regrets, he said: "No, because I'm against the war. (I have no regrets) if this helps us get out of that war and bring our troops home safely."

I agree with Stein. People who loudly oppose the war in Iraq, demeaning the mission and belittling progress made, while simultaneously insisting that they are proud of the troops are engaged in a CYA dance.

It is illogical. You can't have it both ways. It's not being supportive to say that the troops haven't accomplished anything of value in Iraq, nor is it supportive to say that those who were killed sacrificed their lives for Bush's lies and an ignoble cause.

Of course, having differences with the Bush Administration's War on Terror policies does not necessarily mean that one is criticizing the morality of the troops, like Stein does.

The truth is that people who pull triggers are ultimately responsible, whether they're following orders or not. An army of people making individual moral choices may be inefficient, but an army of people ignoring their morality is horrifying.

However, it's disingenuous to say that one is proud of the troops while moaning about the damage that those same troops have done, insisting that tens of thousands of civilians have been killed to make Bush's oil buddies rich, etc.

I, for one, am glad that Stein wrote his column. He deserves credit for admitting that he believes the troops in Iraq should be held responsible for their actions, actions he fiercely opposes.

While he cuts through the Left's hypocrisy and incoherence, in the process, he reveals his own disjointedness. It's ironic that Stein intends to call out the "I support the troops" libs as fakes, yet he reveals himself to be an impostor, also in CYA mode.

Stein says:

I'm not advocating that we spit on returning veterans like they did after the Vietnam War, but we shouldn't be celebrating people for doing something we don't think was a good idea. All I'm asking is that we give our returning soldiers what they need: hospitals, pensions, mental health and a safe, immediate return. But, please, no parades.

No spitting, but no parades. Got it.

Radio Blogger has the transcript of Hugh Hewitt's interview with Joel Stein this morning.

It's worth reading, very enlightening.

It brings to mind Mark Levin's quote, "Liberalism is the philosophy of the stupid."

Visit Joel Stein.com.

He has a great photo gallery.