I was going to write something nice for my first Viewpoint column. Honest.
I had it planned out, you see. The headline was, “What’s Wrong with Leaning Right … or Left?” It was a nice, gentle piece about overcoming stereotype. It wouldn’t have upset anybody.
I was going to point out how not all conservatives are hypocritical, pious, gay-hating, morals-slinging, irrational, need-a-life, absolute morons (although there are a few conservatives who fall into this elite category). At the same time, I was going to try to break the stereotype of the freaky, sex-driven, pink hair-wearing, atheist, immoral, hate-spewing, full-of-crap liberal (although I’ve met one or two of these elites as well).
I was going to point out that we shouldn’t be afraid to express our views, because there are very few who are all-out liberals or conservatives like the examples above. We usually don’t have to worry about being attacked – in fact, some times there can be a silent respect between the two camps because each hold to their views without swaying.
Together, perhaps, the liberal and the conservative could have chuckled aloud at the column, then danced away into a field of sunflowers.
Then I saw the puppet, and I decided to write something a bit more inflammatory.
As you may know, there was an anti-war march this past weekend. The ETSU College Democrats were involved, as well as the Initiative for Clean Energy and an off-campus group called Concerned Tennessee Citizens. More than 200 people attended the march with signs and opinions opposing the war.
Also, someone brought a large puppet.
This puppet was a representation of President Bush wearing a cowboy hat, carrying a pistol, and grinning like he’s got a secret. It took three people to operate it, and was apparently loved by the crowd.
Now, I don’t mind the march. I’m anti-war too, you see. I can’t think of anything more heart-breaking than a soldier going to war and never coming home, leaving a family with a hole that can never be filled. I’m all for a reasonable withdrawal from Iraq, to get our soldiers home and back with their families.
What angers me is the puppet. By carrying that puppet at the anti-war march, someone was using the war in Iraq as a platform to attack President Bush.
I know what the speakers talked about. I know what the band that played sang about. I acknowledge that most marchers were there for one purpose – to protest the war in Iraq. All of this, in my opinion, is fine.
But the puppet. The puppet became the main event of the march. Two pictures of it were featured in the East Tennessean. What do you think bystanders watching the march will tell everyone about? What do you think other media outlets will report on first?
That’s right. The puppet.
What’s so wrong with the puppet? Again, by displaying that puppet at an anti-war march, the individuals involved with getting that puppet there were using the war in Iraq as a platform to attack and make fun of President Bush. Still don’t see the problem with that? Let me give you a visual.
If you’re at an anti-war rally and you use the war as a platform to attack President Bush, you might as well be piling up the bodies of 3,846 U.S. soldiers, climbing to the top of the mound and dancing around with a stupid, grinning puppet.
I bet they thought they were clever. In fact, in any other circumstance, I’d have to admit that they were.
The puppet was well-made and more than slightly humorous. It’s perfect for events without dire connotations, debates, and especially anti-Bush marches.
Having that puppet at an anti-war march, however, was crude, shameless and demeaning.
In my estimation, it undermines all the good the event might have done and should offend a whole lot of people. Indeed, anyone who has lost a loved one to this war should be especially offended.
Someone should apologize. However, it’s not my place as a journalist to call for that apology. The best scenario would involve those responsible to offer that apology without someone demanding it. We’ll see what happens.
In the future, however, try not to turn the caskets of American soldiers into soap boxes from which to preach your anti-Bush propaganda.
Sigh. Maybe I’ll write that nice article next time.

Author