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The Anti-War Kiddies
03/23/2003
Tim Blair notes that Zoe Pilger, daughter of The Mirror's liberal agitator, John Pilger, is publishing fisk-ready columns against the war. (Scroll down from that link; the direct links aren't working properly.)
Unfortunately, the scourge of woefully under-informed politically active teens is an international problem. Just the other day, the Providence Journal published a letter to the editor by 16-year-old Matthew Simpson:
But as I sat and watched President Bush address the nation, calling on Saddam Hussein to step down from power in the next 48 hours so that the Iraqi people may have the chance for a democracy, something dawned on me.
The man speaking was not elected by the popular vote in America. If President Bush thinks that his leadership is a good example of the potential of democracy he is sorely mistaken. The majority of the voters did not elect him as their leader.
As a future voter, I call on the president to set a true example of democracy and step down until after the conflict with Iraq has played out. If Mr. Bush wants so desperately to have freedom in this world and to liberate the Iraqi people, why not liberate his own country at the same time?
I'd love to have a sit-down chat with the grownup who facilitated the "dawning" of this leftist dogma. About a year ago, local talk radio host Dan Yorke was pondering the reasons for the nonsense liberalism espoused by pre-adults in news stories. I called in to point out that, well, the statements that the kids had made had gotten their names in the newspaper! My entire life, it has been that way. Look how bright (albeit not broadly experienced) these youngsters are, the papers seem to say of youth who are inclined to "speak out." It seems to me that this is an indicator of the cycle whereby the liberal mindset is perpetuated — college-application-worthy rewards for children who take up the aging clichés of generations past and give them a coat of fresh naiveté. The adults akin to vampires, sucking the capacity to think from the brains of the young to perpetuate a myth of their own youth.
But at least Matty didn't glom a paying slot that an adult writer could have used to feed his family and bolster his career (ahem).
Posted by Justin Katz @ 07:51 PM EST
7 comments
I don't suppose that there is any point in reminding Master Simpson that it is not popular election that determines the holder of the office of United States President?
Nor is the United States a democracy, but a republic. That too is a lost cause when most of the world cannot comprehend the difference and politicians use the "d" word because it plays well with the rabble.
(By the way: Bush was won the Florida election in every count and recount, regardless of the standard applied. Facts don't seem to count with the whining left.)
nofixedabode @ 03/25/2003 01:53 PM EST
Sounds like Bart^H^H^H^HMatthew is an attendee of our public school system, no?
Bashir Gemayel @ 03/25/2003 03:49 PM EST
I remember my HS Social Studies teacher explaining that the difference between liberals and conservatives was, "Liberals are always trying to improve how things are done, and to make government work better, Conservatives want to go back to the way things used to be, they think times were better years ago." Guess who us 14-15 year olds identified with? It's taken me 7 years (I'm 21, about to graduate college) to shake off those preconceptions. I'm from Massachusetts by the way.
pete @ 03/25/2003 07:22 PM EST
Pete,
Sounds like you're ahead of the game. It took me well into my twenties to finally reconcile what I felt to be truth (based on the picture I'd been presented in youth) with what I knew to be truth. For me, I spent quite a while as a conservative in everything but name. Finally, I realized that the folks who admit to being conservative aren't actually what much of the popular culture presents them to be.
It's an interesting progression to watch in others, especially as the tide turns.
Justin Katz @ 03/25/2003 08:04 PM EST
Wow, as an American teenager, that makes me ashamed. It kinda says something about what we thoughts we have placed in us as kids, and how schools prevent us from having totally free thoughts without some kind of influence.
Zachary Cook @ 03/25/2003 08:54 PM EST
Don't worry, our Aussie school kids are just as deludedly moronic. The leftist have taken over our school system. I bet the same happened in the UK, so this war is probably the last alliance of the english speaking peoples (not counting the drips north of your boarder and across the Tasman Sea).
Peter Nugent @ 03/25/2003 10:32 PM EST
I don't know... it could be the first of a renewed vigor. Times are changing for the better, I've faith.
Justin Katz @ 03/25/2003 10:38 PM EST