Kevin McCullough
Wednesday, April 16, 2003

"If George W. Bush is right and I'm wrong, I will come crawling back to your broadcast, Bill, on my hands and knees over broken shards of glass, and say so!"

That little gem was just one of many quotes that the people protesting against freedom in Iraq uncorked leading up to the campaign that brought Iraqis their first taste of it. That one was from the now famously ludicrous lips of Janeane Garofalo on the set of "The O'Reilly Factor."

There was one that came to me, via e-mail, after the war to liberate Iraq had already begun.

"If you (actually) see any Iraqis dancing in the street once the U.S. led invasion is over (which you won't) make sure you send me the "b-roll" on that," said Kate McCardle of some group known as Artists United.

And even as the head of Saddam's statue was being used as an amusement park-like ride for kids in the streets hopping on piggyback style, Jane Fonda was making a speech warning of how the U.S. would be hated around the world for this action.

In fact, before she had even concluded her remarks, young men from all over Iraq began to be shown on television holding dot matrix printouts of President Bush and kissing them on live TV. An act that, had it been performed two days previous, would have brought them execution.

And has anyone besides me noticed how you can't find Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Mike Farrell, Michael Moore or any of the rest of the loudmouths on any broadcast venue … let's say, since last Wednesday? You know – the day that freedom came to Baghdad.

For some time it had been more than obvious to many that those who opposed liberating Iraq were not protesting war on principle. There were a handful of exceptions – Chicago Mayor Richard Daley even came out last week and said the president had been right and that he had been wrong.

But in reality, most who protested the military action would have to admit that they hate George W. Bush more than they love freedom, and appearing to take a solid stand against "an invasion as a conquering force" seemed almost plausible. But the folks who led these protests truly were unpatriotic.

"McCullough – how can you say that?!?" I can hear them say now. "Don't you know that free speech is what being patriotic is all about?"

Uh … actually, no.

Patriotism by definition means love for one's country. So, by strict definition, when you speak of the loathing you have for your country, or embarrassment you have for your country, or contempt you have for your country, you are being unpatriotic – Dixie style.

And where is the great moral courage of this crowd? Cowering in some backstage corner praying to the living God that no one remembers the things they said in their interviews leading up to the liberation of Iraq.

For many weeks now it has been clear to me that the "peace" crowd tried to make its impact felt by arguing from a moral standpoint – i.e., "all those civilian casualties," "all of our boys coming home in body bags," "all that needless death." How many times did we hear about how it’s not right to bomb innocent women and children, even encouraging kindergarten students to come home and tell their parents this.

Of course these excuses were all inherently dishonest. And as time has gone on, it’s been easy to prove that those who sided with France, Germany, Russia, Sarandon, Garofalo, Farrell and the like were lining up against the people of Iraq.

These people were actually wishing the population of Iraq to be kept in their prison-like state. They refused to admit to the things that the world knew were going on inside Iraq.

And on that note, CNN has lost forever its right to call itself a true news operation. The CNN news chief last Friday released an opinion piece in the New York times admitting to basically covering up the truth about Iraq so that CNN could keep its news bureau open there.

Eason Jordan should be commended for telling the truth – but he should be scourged because he told it 12 years too late. And this fundamental act alone should forever disqualify CNN from being looked at as balanced journalism.

But through these many weeks that the "peace" crowd has spent its time trying to garner hate for our troops, one overwhelming moment of clarity hit me. Peace may have some virtue in it, but freedom is far more virtuous than peace. Peace built on false pretense is not peace. Freedom is the basis for building a moral and lasting society.

And if anyone needed any proof, all they had to do was look at a television last Wednesday for just mere seconds to see hearts that had been kept from freedom for decades suddenly be liberated to a brand new life.

None of us were here when the pilgrims left Europe in their search for freedom. None of us really know what freedom's hunger feels like. But as I sat stunned last Wednesday at the sheer euphoria of what freedom means, I was reminded again why I AM patriotic.

I love this country because we insist on using the power at our disposal not to conquer and take distant lands (as France, Germany and Russia all have), but to seek the liberation of their people. We do not leave behind conquering armies. Instead we leave in our wake representative government and constitutions.

And for this those who hate freedom have no answer!

Kevin McCullough is found weekdays 3-5 p.m. on AM 1160 WYLL, a 50,000-watt station based in Chicago. (http://www.wyll.com/nafternoonaudio.asp)

Kevin may be reached through e-mail at kmc@wyll.com.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
George W. Bush
Media Bias
Saddam Hussein/Iraq

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