Media Campaigns and Bringing the Troops Home
By Chad A. B. Wilson
Published February 7, 2007, 4:49 pm in News.
I was driving around Houston today, trying to go to Taco Cabana for lunch, when I almost ran off the road because of a billboard. This hasn't happened for a long time, not since I first moved to Houston nine years ago and saw a Billboard on Hwy 59 that had a picture of a girl in a bikini and the words "Just Add Water." Man I wanted one of those dehydrated women that you could just add water to and end up with that woman in the bikini. But alas, I had also just gotten married, and my wife, much wiser than I am, let me know that it was an advertisement for a bathing suit store. Me, I didn't know there was such a thing as a "bathing suit store." I thought everyone bought their bathing suits at Wal-Mart.
But this billboard today was different, and I can't find a transcript of it online, and I wasn't able to catch the group or URL. So I'm a bit at a loss. Perhaps if anyone knows the group, you can alert me of their website. The billboard said something like this, not quite a quote:
"American troops killed in Iraq: ...
Amount of money spent on Iraq:
Number of weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq:"
with the numbers filled in, of course.
And then there was a message something like "bring our troops home now." That may be the group, too, but I can't find a confirmation of it. It might be the Troops Out Now Coalition, although I don't see anything on their website about the billboard.
Anyway, the group isn't really important. What is important is the fact that the anti-war movement has become so prominent. There are a lot of protests going on around the country, especially with Bush's new "surge." And then I cam across this tidbit on someone else's blog, which he called Iraq by the numbers , where he goes through all of the "facts" about the costs of the Iraq war. I won't try to substantiate all of his claims because I'm just not that interested. It's the same idea as the weapons of mass destruction billboard, but a bit bigger.
If you read my column, you know where I stand: We cannot leave Iraq as it is. It is unethical to do so. We must fix the mess we made. Period.
But I also have a stand on the media: Everything goes.
Wait, wait, wait, just how do those two go together? On the one hand, I'm talking about ethics and how it is unethical to leave Iraq as it is, but on the other hand, everything should be permisable for the media?
Well, no. Some things are off-limits, of course. There are always limits to our freedoms. For the most part, i.e. as long as the media espouses MY views, I support free speech. No, I'm joking. See my previous column of Christmas Eve for more on this one. I said there that, "as that famous enlightenment thinker once said: I don't respect what you say, but I will fight for your right to say it. That doesn't go for everything, for we have established guidelines that restrict speech that is dangerous. But if it isn't dangerous, it's all fair game."
Perhaps my question here should be whether this kind of thing is "dangerous." After all, that was caveat about free speech. Or this: do billboards like this serve the best interests of our country?
On the one hand, the anti-war movement and its corollaries--billboards, radio spots, etc.--can serve the best interests of our country. As a country with a Constitution that guarantees that it is okay to disagree with the government, these protests show the rest of the world that we value free speech. They demonstrate our commitment to treat every citizen with respect, no matter how wrongheaded we think they are. We don't try to deport the John Lennons of the world just becuase they try to stir up the people against us. Or maybe we do do that, but we're wrong for it. And our insistence that anyone can say nearly anything against the government is a great thing.
On the other hand, these anti-war protestors may hurt our chances of winning in Iraq in the first place. Morale isn't high as it is over there, I'm sure. I hope the troops think they're doing the right thing because it sucks to have to put up with that kind of crap if you don't even think the mission is correct. Not that they're allowed to say they don't agree with it, of course. Even though we protect free speech, soldiers give that right up when they join the military, or at least they give up a portion of it. I hope they believe in what they're doing, though, at least as long as they're over there having to do it. And protests against the war don't help these things. Surveys about the president's popularity don't help it, either.
The anti-war movement also provides fuel to our enemies. If the enemy forces in Iraq see that our country is beginning to move against the war, they will know to fight all the harder and make us pressure the government to pull out of Iraq. It's the idea that if you're not for us, you're against us. That if you don't support the war and the administration, that you're a traitor, as Ann Coulter would say. You're a traitor because you give fuel to the enemy against us.
Here is my take on all of this. Are you ready? It's profound.
Too bad.
The protection of freedom of speech is more important than anything else. It should never be restricted because of wartime. It should never be restricted because it makes the enemy think us as weak. It is the basis of our government, as far as I am concerned. It is what makes America great. When George Bush speaks of the terrorists wanting to destroy what they hate, he says it's democracy. I think that's only a part of it, and I think democracy must be based on freedom of speech--that is the important thing. Democracy is a by-product. A necessary and good one, mind you, but simply an outgrowth of the true freedom--speech.
So put up your billboards. I applaud you, even if I don't agree with you. Just like I almost applaud the billboard I see everday on the way to school. It's one of those from www.Exodus.to, or Exodus International, that says, "I questioned homosexuality. Change is possible." Sheesh. Now there's one that's controversial. And probably not all that helpful. But still, it's important that they be allowed to do it.
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