Palin to a heckler yesterday: “Bless your heart sir, my son is in Iraq fighting for your right to protest.”
Ooh, zinger! Except… what? I mean, I realize the military “defend our freedoms” and all, but this makes astonishingly little sense if you think about it for five seconds. It made a certain sort of sense during the Cold War, but I’d be curious—in a morbid sort of way—to hear Palin make the link between the success of the Iraq occupation and the preservation of the right to political speech at home. Glad as I am to learn of this administration’s deep commitment to domestic civil liberties, I can think of less circuitous ways to have expressed it than invading Iraq.
5 responses so far ↓
1 William Randolph // Oct 7, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I like your take on it, but it’s also worth noting that John McCain refuses to politicize his family this way. It was, for me, one of the most admirable things about his campaign, at least until the Palin family-fest appeared on the scene.
2 Kevin B. O'Reilly // Oct 7, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Iraq is now the central front in the war on terror. The terrorists want to establish a caliphate across the Middle East. That oil-driven power might one day be strong enough to challenge the U.S. military. If it were to conquer the U.S., free speech would likely be targeted. Now, how hard was that? Even a non-hockey-mom like me can put two and two together. You betcha!
3 anon // Oct 7, 2008 at 6:57 pm
While Palin herself probably meant exactly what she said, with no subtlety or qualification (and therefore, without a reasonable meaning in this case), I think you can make the case that, in theory at least, American soldiers in Iraq are fighting in part for the principle that individuals everywhere have a right to protest their leaders and the decisions they make. Surprise surprise, Palin said it in an awkward way, and of course it’s true that the only currently credible threats to freedom of speech in this country come from our own government rather than from some imaginary Muslim overlord, but as useless as the Iraq war may turn out to be, we probably shouldn’t forget that (again, in theory at least), the principles we’re allegedly pursuing certainly do include free speech, association etc.
4 Tony // Oct 8, 2008 at 9:49 am
I don’t think it takes soldiers to repeal McCain-Feingold. Just a sitting Senator (or three). I wonder where she might find one (or three) of them?
5 Matt Tievsky // Oct 9, 2008 at 12:04 am
anon, she said “your,” not “the.” That’s the only way it makes sense as a zinger. Except that it’s nonsense.