Protesting Against Bush is 'Hip'

February 26, 2003

Hey, Martin Sheen, Sheryl Crow and Janeane Garofalo.   I want you to listen good to the words of the president on December 16th .   He said, “I want to explain why I have decided to use force in Iraq.   Other countries possess weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.   With Saddam, there is one big difference.   He has used them.   Not once, but repeatedly.   The international community had little doubt then, and I have no doubt today, that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again.   That is why . . . I have ordered a strong, sustained series of air strikes against Iraq.”

That was December 16th . . . 1998.   The president was Bill Clinton.   My question is: where were Martin, Sheryl and Janeane back then?   The answer is simple.   Janeane Garofalo explained it to Fox News Sunday’s Tony Snow when she said the reason there weren’t protests then is because “it wasn’t hip to protest against Clinton.”  

You see, that’s what this all boils down to for Hollywood leftists.   It’s about being “hip.”   It’s about being “in.”   It’s about being invited to dinner at Rob Reiner’s house.   It’s about Barbara Streisand and Martin Sheen giving you the approving nod.

Back during the Clinton administration when we waged war in Bosnia, not only did Sheryl Crow refrain from protesting, she joined Clinton on a USO tour to entertain the troops.   She told USA Today back in 1996, “ Once over there I felt extremely patriotic.   Here are these people, from 18-year-olds to military veterans, enduring real duress for the cause of peace.”   So what changed, Sheryl?

I’ll tell you what changed.   Administrations.   This massive force of righteous indignation emanating from Hollyweird is not about war.   It’s not about peace.   It’s not about saving lives or doing what’s right.   It’s about settling an old score.   It’s about getting even for their boy, Gore, losing the election in 2000.

When Clinton ordered air strikes against Iraq in 1998, it was the right thing to do.   The man was a menace then and he’s a menace now and he must be dealt with.   The more we learn about Saddam and his crimes against humanity, the clearer it becomes that we’re doing the right thing.   

These so-called anti-war protestors who evoke the images of innocent Iraqi children as a reason not to attack, in fact, make the case for war.   These innocent little Iraqi children have their eyes gouged out in front of their parents in order to extract a confession.   These innocent little children are mowed down with machine-gun fire by Iraqi soldiers at the order of Saddam Hussein.   No one can ask the little Kurdish children who suffered a horrible death by poison gas at the hands of Saddam Hussein.

It’s sad but true.   The American Neville Chamberlain Society is alive and well.   The great appeasers join a long list of others like them who protested too loudly and acted too late.   They should’ve listened to Churchill.   They should now listen to Bush.  

The same people who complained that we should’ve been warned about September 11 th are the same who refuse to heed the warning of Saddam.   They insist on knowing of danger before it happens then turn a blind eye to the warning.   We no longer have the luxury of time.   Once Saddam wears us down with delay after frustrating delay, he will ultimately reach his goal of nuclear armament.   Once that happens, it’s a whole new ballgame, one that nobody wants to play.