Dumbest Article of the DayNote that this column is not
labeled an oped, or analysis. Instead the paper says, "Olivia Ward reports".
You can get a feel for just how fatheaded this piece is from the summary:
Three years after the invasion of Iraq and more than five years since 9/11, real dissent in the United States is next to impossible. People who speak out against George W. Bush and his administration are paying a steep personal price...Yes, I know, it seems like all we hear is dissent, but Olivia feels the pain of those sent to the gulag.
In America, bereaved military mother Cindy Sheehan was harassed and arrested for her high-profile protests. War-hero presidential candidate John Kerry was accused of cowardice for opposing the invasion, along with decorated veteran and Democrat congressman John Murtha. Triple amputee vet Max Cleland lost his Senate seat after his opponent ran a campaign linking him with Osama bin Laden. Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon was booed off the stage for speaking out against the Iraq war.Cindy was indeed arrested, once for good cause, once for being a dipstick. Kerry was no war-hero, and he didn't oppose the invasion; he voted in favor of it, as did Murtha. And pardon me for not being upset that Max Cleland lost or that Susan Saranwrap got booed off the stage. Getting voted out of office or hooted at is all part of the price of being free.
Wilson says the campaign against him has changed the lives of his family. "It's clear that there are certain things we can't do. My wife no longer works at the Agency. And I've found it's amazing how international business shies away from somebody who challenges the administration on matters of war and security. That's why so few people want to speak out."On the other hand, there is the book deal, and the proposed movie to think about. No mention here that Wilson's
claims against Bush were debunked by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector and Marine, was one of the first to speak out against the American government's policy on Iraq. Even before the recent war, he was the target of allegations that he was an "Israeli agent," and his wife was investigated by the FBI as a member of the KGB.
But the problem runs deeper than individual slurs, Ritter contends.What, no mention of the worst slur against Ritter, that he chatted up underage girls on the internet and tried to arrange to have sex with them? Oh, wait a minute,
that's the truth.
