Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now September 21, 2001 The Free Congress Commentary Stand Up! Speak Up! Fight For The USA! by Paul M. Weyrich I was watching an inane program the other day. One of those shows which one of the major networks threw together at the last minute in order to fill time. After all, for days they covered the attack on America virtually non-stop, day and night. This show consisted of a moderator interviewing a group of High School students on their views of what this country should do to respond to the terrorists. We have for years cultivated the notion that the younger and less educated the subject the more wisdom they possess. So it stands to reason that this network, I believe it was NBC, treated the thoughts of these teeny boppers with great reverence. One by one these kids, especially the girls, opined the politically correct view that we should not go to war over what happened. After all, we were told by these all-wise teenagers, if we did so we would just be "perpetuating the cycle of violence." Now where do you suppose they picked up that little phrase? Just attend one of the National Education Association workshops at their annual convention and you will see and hear that phrase over and over again. To be sure there were a couple of boys who had their head on straight, but the moderator didn't seem that pleased with their hawkish views. It is clear that no one has ever taught these kids about the idea of self-defense. And of course it is much too much to think that they would have ever heard of the just war theory. I wonder just what some of these mushy heads think will happen if we fail to respond to these attacks. The terrorists will hold a meeting followed by a press conference in which their leader will say: "Gosh, since the USA has been so nice and has spared all of us our lives and has failed to nuke our countries until they glow, we hereby announce that we are calling off our worldwide campaign of terror. We will now be taking up basket weaving and glass blowing so America have a nice day." The problem here is that we are asking the opinions of youngsters who don't even remember the Gulf War. What they know about World War II is from watching "Pearl Harbor." which means they think war is linked to some sort of romantic nonsense. That is if they saw the movie. Most did not. The movie was a semi-flop. Forgive me but I would rather see the network use its precious time interviewing some folks who know something about war. The ones who were in the last real war that we fought and won are getting pretty old and, as Tom Hanks reminds us, we are losing about 1,000 every day. Right now over 80% of the country is united behind the president. Of course, the Washington Post could not resist telling us that beneath the facade of unity a lot of Democrats are highly critical of our President. These are unnamed sources, of course, but they say things like "Bush looked so small especially next to Pataki" and "The weaker he is the more we have to support him." Whereas many of us think this president has really risen to the occasion, these know nothings, never having served in any conflict themselves, believe they are in a position to judge our Commander in Chief. They are graduates of the same kind of high schools that produced our earlier mentioned panelists. Watch the Left now crank into action. The anti-war demonstrations will be everywhere. The media, especially television, will blow every rag tag bunch of nuevo-Communists way out of proportion and soon the naive public will be led to believe that public opinion is turning against Bush and the war. Those of us who care about this country and its future at that point had better be prepared to stand against the left. We had better argue forcefully in whatever forum is available to us that we must stand against these terrorists or it will be the end of our civilization. The other side has shown they are willing to die for their cause. Are we at least willing to be vocal in support of ours? Paul M. Weyrich is president of the Free Congress Foundation. For media inquiries, contact Steve Lilienthal [EMAIL PROTECTED] For other questions or comments, contact Angie Wheeler [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit Our Website at <http://www.FreeCongress.org> This publication is a service of the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, Inc. (FCF) and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Free Congress Foundation nor is it an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill. Free Congress Foundation * 717 Second Street, NE * Washington, DC 20002 * 202.546.3000 * Fax: 202.544.2819 Project Manager: Angela Wheeler * Copyright * 2001 Free Congress Foundation - All Rights Reserved.
