It seems silly to say it but apparently it must be said. Most people prefer peace to war and violence. But apparently, nationally syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin isn’t one of them. Her column ("Sally Field doesn't Speak For Every Woman") slamming Sally Field for voicing her pro-peace opinions is not surprising in this right-wing dominated country who’s most vocal members are constantly whining about the left and how they dominate things. Since most of the right wing radio and television personalities are not really journalists, they just play one on TV, they don’t know that the media is supposed to challenge our political leaders. That is a critical role of journalism in a democracy. How else is the typically uninformed voter going to get another opinion from the one that comes out of the White House and then is read verbatim on Fox News?

So, who are the sheep moms and lion moms referred to in the column? We’ve certainly seen Congress and the media act like sheep. Sure, let’s sacrifice our freedoms and privacy for national security. It was Ben Franklin who said that those who do just that deserve neither freedom nor security. Sure, let’s make the country afraid, very afraid, and then we can scare them into accepting just about any wire tap law or change in the Bill of Rights to fight terrorism. It was Franklin Roosevelt who said that fear was all we had to fear.

I must have missed the “coddling bullies” and “conflict avoidance” remarks by Sally Fields. I don’t know about you but my mother set strict boundaries and consequences for us kids but at the same time we could trust her to love us no matter what and she never suggested fighting was the answer to any problem. Is the military the only tool in the right wing tool box?

Michelle Malkin is the mom who tells her child to hit back and ask questions later, no wait, forget about the asking questions part. Retaliation is the rule. That sure has worked great in the Middle East hasn’t it? …lots of peace there. Malkinism says that anyone who would say “seek first to understand” is a namby-pamby. Bush’s policy of not talking to his foreign enemies sure works great doesn’t it? Just give it a little more time and Iraq will no longer be a problem. It’ll be the next President’s problem!

In Malkinville kids are told to stay away from those that are different because they are dangerous. A little fear-mongering goes a long way to raising good upstanding right wingers who hate those that are different. In Malkinville peace is not patriotic, war is. Dissent is not patriotic, blind allegiance is. Darn, how could our founding fathers have been so wrong!

I’m so glad that she was able to find like-minded sheep in Washington, D.C. because it must have been really hard to find the few hundred anti-peace protestors among the 100,000 anti-war protestors. It’s so nice that military mothers and vets organized both rallies, too! It’s that kind of commonality that just might lead one to think….no, sorry, what was I thinking! The right wingers don’t think! They have W to do that for them.

And, oh yes, it’s so nice to reminisce about Vietnam. Why did that darn Republican president get us out of that Democratic president’s quagmire? But then, we couldn’t have invaded Iraq if they didn’t because we’d still be in Vietnam! Now, the question is, how can we invade Iran and occupy Iraq at the same time? Hmmm…..so much oil to control, so few troops to do it with.

I also must have missed that news story about the bloodthirsty mothers who strap al Qaeda suicide bomb vests on their toddlers. They must live in Malkinville. I’m glad I didn’t grow up there. Those are some scary mothers!