Kate O’Malley, columnist for Human Events Online and proud fellow Eagle, has a great column up this morning.
The article explores the motives behind people like Dan Frasier, an
antiwar activist who has produced T-shirts with the slogan “Bush Lied,
Soldiers Died,” on top of a list of soldiers who have given their lives
in Iraq.
He is making money off these fallen heroes, although
according to his website, he isn’t really a very good capitalist, “In
fact, it is not clear that the shirts have generated any profits at
all. Much of the first batch of shirts was sold at a deep discount. The
shirts were complex to design and expensive to produce. The cost of the
shirts has been kept as low as possible to encourage sales and spread
the important message. Of course, this product is not meant to be a
statement on behalf of the families or the fallen soldiers?? said
Frasier in an open letter on his website.
Okay, I will admit that I was not an economics major, so maybe I am
missing something here. The shirt is not making much a profit because
our friend Dan wants to encourage sales to spread the important
political message he believes in, but the message is somehow not meant
to be a statement on behalf of the men and women who appear on his
shirt. So Dan isn’t doing this for the money, he is doing it to spread
a political message. So this isn’t actually a product as much as it is
an advertising tool.
Arrrghhh….my head hurts. Those rascally lefties! Dan isn’t a
capitalist after all, he is a political activist! Darn, I knew it was
too good to be true.
The article is sarcastic and amusing, yes, but it’s also heart
wrenching. Katie skillfully reminds us of what the results of the
left’s version of “free speech” are.
Frasier may not be a good capitalist, but he is an
accomplished grave robber. He is using dead soldiers, soldiers who
can’t protect themselves, to further his own personal agenda. He can do
so without the censure of these men and women because they are dead.
They are unprotected, unable to be heard, unable to approve or dispute
his use of their names. They can not be interviewed on the nightly news
to counter his association of their life’s work with his personal
cause. They can not call a lawyer to demand the removal of their names
nor can they demand a share of his meager profits because, as we have
established, he is not a very good capitalist.It is left to the
families of these fine men and women to pursue justice. It is not
enough that wives and children and parents must attend funerals and
empty closets of personal effects. They must now bear the injustice of
a political activist aligning their loved ones with a belief and for a
cause that they had no opportunity to endorse or dispute.
Cindy Sheehan may be the most well-known grave robber right now, but
she is not the only one. People like Dan Frasier, Gael Murphy, and many
more are making money and (excuse the pun) capitalizing on the
sacrificial love of American soldiers and Marines.
How amazing would it be to live in a nation that wholeheartedly
supports her troops and their mission? How incredible would it be to
know that your countrymen, to a man, love and honor you for the
sacrifices you make? How much easier would it be to approach the
battlefield, knowing that those you defend know in their hearts every
single day that your job is noble, it is amazing, it is honorable?
Someday, perhaps we will live in that country again. Hope springs eternal.
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