Most Americans, regardless of their position on the war in Iraq, don't object to the expression "Support Our Troops," but earlier this week one National Public Radio commentator asserted that in at least one context, that phrase is "glib," "self-righteous," "partisan," and "vaguely...Ann Coulterish." He also declared darkly that "analyzing its rhetoric" may constitute "treason."
[Tom Johnson, who monitors NPR for the MRC, filed this item for CyberAlert.]
 This past Monday on All Things Considered, Bob Sommer, whose son recently completed a year's service in Iraq, began his segment: "You would think that the sight of a yellow-ribbon magnet on the back of a car, proclaiming 'Support Our Troops,' would give me a lift, but it doesn't. It just seems so easy to express patriotism by slapping a magnet with a slogan on your car, so glib, so...self-righteous.
| Now that I think about it, it is much easier to express patriotism by slapping a magnet with a slogan on my car than it is by being a commentator on NPR. That's also kinda glib and self-righteous, if I remember correctly. It's been much longer since I've listened to NPR than it has been since I slapped a magnetized slogan on my car. |
'Support Our Troops.' That sentence is neither a request nor a statement; it's a command.
| Take it as a suggestion. If you don't want to support our troops, you don't have to. Neither do we have to admire you for it. |
There's a hint of a dare in it that reminds me of a similar sentence: 'Bring it on.' It's vaguely...Ann Coulterish.
| It's long-legged, blonde, with acid wit? But only vaguely so? |
Analyzing its rhetoric may be treason."
| Yep. We've got 'em lined up six deep, putting them on trial for treason and chopping their heads off. You just don't hear about it in the papers... |
Sommer further complained: "I've noticed that these magnets often appear on vehicles that display still-lingering Bush-Cheney stickers. It isn't a big leap to conclude that there's something partisan about them, and the sight of all these yellow magnets is starting to bring out the worst in me.
| The very same people who support our troops are the ones who also support President Bush. The very same people who didn't support President Bush tend not to have "Support Our Troops" stickers on their cars. It could be that the majority, that supports our troops, voted Bush, and the minority, that doesn't support our troops, voted for the other guy, the one who described them as being similar to Genghis Khan... |
Sometimes, I want to roll down my windows and confront the drivers. I want to exclaim, 'Who doesn't support the troops? What have you done to support the troops?'
| To which I'd answer "People who voted for Kerry don't seem to support our troops. You never see magnetic stickers on their cars, do you?" |
They may be well-meaning and sincere people, but I'm convinced that they're just driving along, thinking support-our-troops thoughts like 'Thank God I live in a red state,' or 'Maybe it's time to price a Hummer.' That's what I assume they're thinking, anyway."
| He assumes that as he's driving down the avenue, thinking ignore-our-troops thoughts like, "Thank God I live in a blue state," or "Maybe it's time to price a Volvo." |
After Sommer detailed how he and his wife "expended a lot of emotional energy, as well as some financial resources, supporting our son and his buddies," including "sen[ding] Christmas gifts to the whole squad," he resumed his exegesis: "Still, that curious phrase, 'Support Our Troops,' on those yellow-ribbon magnets, seems to accuse me of not doing my part. Then I realized that 'Support Our Troops' is a code...
| Ahah! "I do not think that phrase means what you think it means!"... But... But... Who's competent to crack the code? It must be pretty subtle, packing an entire different message into three little words on a piece of magnetized plastic... |
Here's what I think it means: Those who presumably need to be admonished to support the troops are those who oppose the decisions of the [Bush] administration.
| Like the guys who don't bother putting such stickers on their cars? |
'Support Our Troops' means, then, that we should be supporting the war.
| Couldn't have a war without troops, could we? |
I believe that most yellow-magnet-bearers want support not just for the troops, but for the mission, the presence, the President. Maybe the magnets should say, 'Shut Up and Support Our Troops.'"
| Maybe they should say "Support the mission, the presence, the President." |
It's hard to say whether "Support Our Troops" would bother Sommer much less if he saw it on, say, a red-white-and-blue lapel pin...
Last month, All Things Considered aired another exotic commentary on military matters, in which regular ATC contributor Andrei Codrescu suggested that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld staged a military exercise in New Orleans because many "foreign artists" and anti-Bush "Hollywood actors" were in town. ..
| "Yes, Karl. We must threaten them! I shall stage a military exercise in New Orleans! That will intimidate them! Louisianna shall be ours!" |
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