The military action in Iraq has brought out the disconnected, reactionary sloganeering of the common person, right on cue. There's a woman at work whose husband is in the Navy. He has not yet been shipped to the middle east, but it's very possible that he will be. Let's call this woman Cliche Girl. She likes to leave her radio on populist FM stations with unlistenable junior-high-mentality extroverts as morning show people, and country or hip-hop formats. The morning show people were playing Michael Moore's Academy Awards speech and chortling, and Cliche Girl, upon hearing Moore, says, "He better shut his fuckin' mouth. Our troops are over there fighting for his right to say things like that." ?!??!??!? I don't know where to begin. 1) No they're not. The Bush Administration's stated purpose is for the "liberation of the Iraqi people." We're supposed to view the U.S. as the world's morally superior peace-keeper and hero, or, at the very least, a bespectacled schoolmarm rapping the knuckles of the Bad Countries. I cannot find a single document or press release, official or unofficial that cites, as a reason for attacking Iraq, statements made by Saddam Hussein outlining his conviction that he wishes to rid the world of Americans who criticize their government's policies. In a larger sense, in the Islamist-vs.-American-rationalist worldview sense, this very well may be a bone of contention, as the Koran is designed to guide every single aspect of one's life, probably including criticism of the government, and I doubt properly constructed sharia has much room for dissent. This could, in a larger sense, remember, be cited as a reason an Islamist country views the U.S. as evil and corrupt. But this has not translated to action on Iraq's part. We've come once again to the Iraq-Qaeda connection, which, based on evidence presented by the Bush Administration, is flimsy to non-existent. It's a huge jump for Cliche Girl to pronounce that the objective of the military action is, instead of the control of huge petroleum deposits, to make sure that Michael Moore can publicly shame George W. Bush. Which leads directly to... 2) How can she reconcile the notions that the war is being fought for his right to say things and that he should also not say those things? What if, instead of just mouthing platitudes, she had said, "The single goal of the American soldiers is to make the world safe for Michael Moore to criticize the American government's policies, so he'd better not criticize the American government's policies."? Would it have made her pause? Would she have been able to get the words out? Luckily, she has FM morning people with silly on-air names (Chainsaw, I think) to think for her.