(no subject)
"Naturally, the common people don't want war ... Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders ... All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism."
-Hermann Goering (Leader of the Luftwaffe (Germany's air force in WWII), Hitler's protege and the man he chose to succeed him as leader of the Third Reich.)
"The Athenian democracy suffered much from that narrowness of patriotism which is the ruin of all nations."
-H.G. Wells
"Love for one's country which is not part of one's love for humanity is not love, but idolatrous worship."
-Erich Fromm
"For us, patriotism is the same as the love of humanity."
-Mohandas K. Gandhi
Patriotism is not a magnetic ribbon on the back of your car which, although it's manufactured in China, is supposed to bolster our troops morale, even though it can be removed which a quick swipe of the hand. Patriotism is not harassing pacifists who want nothing more than a peaceful world for all the children of all mankind to grow up in. Patriotism is not blindly backing anyone who does not believe that we are part of the world community and not above it.
When President Bush told us that major combat operations in Iraq were over in May of 2003 (during his speech on the aircraft carrier, when the "Mission Accomplished" banner came down "accidentally"), the number of wounded American soldiers in Iraq stood at fewer than 550. Today, almost two years after operations began, that number stands well above 10,000, not counting the tens or even hundreds of thousands of Iraqi troops and civilians killed needlessly.
Supporting our troops means bringing them home.
-Hermann Goering (Leader of the Luftwaffe (Germany's air force in WWII), Hitler's protege and the man he chose to succeed him as leader of the Third Reich.)
"The Athenian democracy suffered much from that narrowness of patriotism which is the ruin of all nations."
-H.G. Wells
"Love for one's country which is not part of one's love for humanity is not love, but idolatrous worship."
-Erich Fromm
"For us, patriotism is the same as the love of humanity."
-Mohandas K. Gandhi
Patriotism is not a magnetic ribbon on the back of your car which, although it's manufactured in China, is supposed to bolster our troops morale, even though it can be removed which a quick swipe of the hand. Patriotism is not harassing pacifists who want nothing more than a peaceful world for all the children of all mankind to grow up in. Patriotism is not blindly backing anyone who does not believe that we are part of the world community and not above it.
When President Bush told us that major combat operations in Iraq were over in May of 2003 (during his speech on the aircraft carrier, when the "Mission Accomplished" banner came down "accidentally"), the number of wounded American soldiers in Iraq stood at fewer than 550. Today, almost two years after operations began, that number stands well above 10,000, not counting the tens or even hundreds of thousands of Iraqi troops and civilians killed needlessly.
Supporting our troops means bringing them home.