Who are the real, useful idiots?
So the Lenins of the world think the anti-war protestors are nothing more than unpatriotic, ill-informed stooges of brutal dictators everywhere. Useful idiot is the term commonly used by right wing ideologues to describe the naïve peaceniks that are supposedly giving aid and comfort to Saddam Hussein by opposing the impending invasion of Iraq. Instead of characterizing the marchers as ordinary, loyal Americans who decided to get off their duffs for once and speak out against what they see as an unprovoked invasion of a weak country, the marchers are made out to be blame-America-first communists under the organizational leadership of Iraqi spies. Well, I have a different take on the subject. I would say that people who hold up the First Amendment as an example of America’s greatness but then disparage those who exercise that right to peaceably assemble are the real, useful idiots. Those cynics cherish freedom and democracy as abstract principles but loathe those same ideals when they ar
