A War Without Sacrifice. Or End.
The Iraqi war is the first in my memory when I and my fellow countrymen have not been asked to make sacrifices. No tax increase to fund the military. No belt tightening. Merely platitudes about making sacrifices while the war’s true impact is sanitized, the death toll ticks upward and the budget deficit quietly grows.
Nevertheless, the following exchange between Jim Lehrer and George Bush is mind blowing. (Italics mine):
LEHRER: Let me ask you a bottom-line question, Mr. President. If it is as important as you’ve just said — and you’ve said it many times — as all of this is, particularly the struggle in Iraq, if it’s that important to all of us and to the future of our country, if not the world, why have you not, as president of the United States, asked more Americans and more American interests to sacrifice something? . . .
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, you know, I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night.
8 Responses to “A War Without Sacrifice. Or End.”
What can you say or do–beyond throwing stuff at the TV set?
Dude… that’s pretty much all I can muster
Raise taxes, back a draft, enlist, …
I can’t see how anyone would be willing to put their lives on the line for the policies created by such a man. He obviously doesn’t understand the first thing about sacrifice because he’s never known it.
I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images on tv every night.
Um not really. Why do you think Fox’s American Idol has such high ratings, while network news programs are in the ratings toilet??. I don’t know about most Americans but our cable system has over 800 channels. I can switch whenever I’m not in a sacrificial frame of mind, lol.
A sacrifice is something you choose to give up. Things others order you to give are not sacrifices.
If I’m taxed to provide something, that’s not a sacrifice. If I choose to give (say money, to Soldier’s Angels or Valour-IT or …) that is a sacrifice.
It seems that some people would be happy if either they were made to give up something, or if others were made to.
Some of us give — without being made to — because we understand sacrifice.
The “sacrifice” is between materialism on one hand and getting deployed multiple times on the other hand. The US is not pulling its fair share, but pundits and administration carry on as if the world ends if we try to lessen the burdens on the military. If this war is so important to the country, then E V E R Y O N E needs to pitch in.
Though the quote about “sacrifice peace of mind” is sadly amusing, quote that should have been quoted is in his next breath …
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, you know, I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night. I mean, we’ve got a fantastic economy here in the United States, but yet, when you think about the psychology of the country, it is somewhat down because of this war.
Now, here in Washington when I say, “What do you mean by that?,” they say, “Well, why don’t you raise their taxes; that’ll cause there to be a sacrifice.” I strongly oppose that. If that’s the kind of sacrifice people are talking about, I’m not for it because raising taxes will hurt this growing economy. And one thing we want during this war on terror is for people to feel like their life’s moving on, that they’re able to make a living and send their kids to college and put more money on the table. And you know, I am interested and open-minded to the suggestion, but this is going to be.
Jim Lehrer News Hour