Right after the Fort Hood shooting, I referred in an email to Major Nidal Hasan.  Steve Schippert, who was one of the email’s recipients, immediately wrote me back saying that I should never use the word “Major” in the same sentence as that killer’s name.  Through his act of murderous treason, Steve, said Hasan had forever forfeited his right to associate with that honorable rank.

Steve’s instincts were right on the money.  Almost as if on schedule, James Taranto, writing at Best of the Web Today, reports on the heinous use to which Code Pink, the radical anti-military organization, is putting Hasan’s rank:

“We support our troops when they shoot their officers,” read a banner held aloft by some “antiwar” protesters back in the spring of 2003. Well, jejune anarchists have as much right to free speech as the rest of us, and anyway, surely they were just being provocative. They don’t really believe that, do they?

Don’t be so sure. On Veterans Day, six days after the Fort Hood massacre, a group that styles itself Code Pink: Women for Peace issued a statement urging President Obama not to send more troops to Afghanistan. It began as follows:

This Veterans Day, our hearts ache for the soldiers and their families affected by the recent shootings at Ft. Hood. Our hearts also ache for the soldiers and their families who continue to be affected by war in Iraq and Afghanistan on a daily basis. Now more than ever, CODEPINK is committed to helping to heal the hearts of those touched by war, and doing whatever we can to bring our troops home.

(Hat tip: BigGovernment.com.)

It’s bad enough to draw a moral equivalence between professional soldiers, who volunteer to risk their lives in defense of their country, and murder victims. But it gets much worse:

Our soldiers clearly need more care; the last thing they need is to be put into more harm’s way. Even US military officers think so–Matthew Hoh resigned from the Foreign Service in protest of the lack of clear mission and achievable results in Afghanistan, and of course the Ft. Hood shooter was a Major who did not wish to be deployed to Afghanistan.

We have read a lot about the background of the alleged killer, Nidal Hasan, and we don’t know of any basis on which to think he agreed with Code Pink’s stated position that “our soldiers clearly need more care.” In any case, mowing them down in cold blood would seem an odd way to give voice to such a view. Yet the Code Pink ladies are eager to have us believe that the killer is a kindred spirit. They think that imputing their opinions to him strengthens their case via an appeal to authority: “Even US military officers think so.”

This isn’t precisely the same as the banner we cited atop this item. But Code Pink’s motto could be: “Our officers support Code Pink when they shoot their troops.”

I mentioned the famous Walt Kelly phrase (“we have met the enemy and it is us”) the other day in connection with a post I did about Sweden’s national suicide pact.  My point then was that, if a culture is determined to self-destruct, that suicidal urge becomes the most powerful weapon possible in its enemies hands.  When it comes to Europe, the Islamists don’t need airplanes and bombs — they just need to keep the Europeans doing what they’re doing.  If you stop having children and you hate yourself, your cultural demise is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

At Scott’s Conservative News and Commentary, we get a reminder that some people are more active in the cultural and national self-destruct mode than others.  Get a load of this incredible picture of Code Pink protestors.  Don’t just glanced at it.  Really read the sign.  You then have two choices:  crawl into a corner and cry or fight back in this war of ideas.  [UPDATE:  I have it on good authority that the photo is a fake.  While Code Pink has real signs with similar sentiments, someone mocked this one up to make a point.  I think this post still stands, though, even if the photo isn't real.  What do you think?]

Incidentally, you can read a bit more background information Code Pink’s latest initiative at Butch Morgan’s site.

Rob Riggle, at the Daily Show, demonstrates that people who support the military may find that their best weapon is simply to let Code Pink talk, and talk, and talk. Man, those gals are stupid.

Since the Iraq War began, the Left has attempted to disassociate itself from the ugliness of 1960s anti-War protests by repeating, over and over, “We love the troops. It’s just the War we hate.” That line always had a stilted quality, especial since we have a volunteer army, and our troops are willing to serve in this war. This little charade may well be over now, since the hoo-ha in Berkeley has peeled away any attempts amongst the radical Leftists to praise the troops while criticizing the war.

The charade’s end first became apparent when the Berkeley City Council voted to send a letter to the Marines telling them they are unwelcome, a statement coupled with a permanent parking permit for Code Pink, right in front of the Marine Recruiting Center in Berkeley. Because of the outcry, the City Council is reconsidering that move tonight, so it’s defenders have . . . well, they’ve rushed it its defense. The newspapers have been eavesdropping on what they have to say and, aside from the peaceniks’ physical aggression, what they have to say is even worse than the Council’s comparatively innocuous “we don’t want you here.”

But around noon, things heated up as more than three dozen police with batons and riot gear formed a line to separate the two sides. The police intervention occurred after several dozen demonstrators who want the recruiting center to leave town crossed the street and engaged in a 15-minute shouting match with a group supporting the Marines. There were no arrests.

Protesters on both sides of the police line amplified their messages: Recruiting opponents, using megaphones, chanted: “Murder, rape, torture, war. That’s what the Marines are for,” while military backers played the Marines’ Hymn over loudspeakers. (Emphasis mine.)

[snip]

“I’m here to thank the city council for dis-inviting the Marines,” said Berkeley resident Tim Modok, who was attending with his schnauzer, Susie. “I’d rather have a porn (outlet) two blocks from an elementary school and a high school than I would a Marines recruiter; they’re telling kids lies to get them into this war. These are very dangerous people. They’re lying to their children, talking them into becoming killers.” (Emphasis mine.)

Linci Comy of Oakland said she was there for future generations.

“I don’t want my kids and grandkids to go to another war of occupation,” she said. “We have to set a standard, we have to tell the world that military recruitment is no longer acceptable. (Emphasis mine.)

These sentiments have absolutely nothing to do with the War in Iraq. It is a wholesale rejection of the military on the grounds that it is inherently brutal and debased and, as such, should be offensive to all who do support the military in America, irrespective of their views about the wisdom of this War.

I found that last emphasized statement especially interesting: “military recruitment is no longer acceptable.” Aside from disliking the military, these people would very much like to leave America without any military at all. They espouse what might be called the Blanche duBois school of national security, because they’d like America to be dependent on the kindness of strangers — strangers such as Osama bin Laden, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (who came up with the idea of 9/11, and boasts, not only about 9/11, but about having personally beheaded Daniel Pearl), Mahmoud Ahmadinijad, Hafez al-Assad, Kim Jong-il, Vladimir Putin, and many other of the worlds’ most powerful, devious or dangerous (or all of the above) psychopaths.

By the way, what do you bet that these same anti-military people have no problems with warriors if they are Palestinians, or Cuban soldiers, or Chavez’s troops or qualify in some other way as oppressed or anti-capitalist? The really dirty truth here is that, while these speakers insult American troops in the most vile terms, what they really hate is American power. And since they recognize that the troops are an inevitable and necessary part of that power, they see destroying the military, not just as an anti-War move, but as the first grand move in the total destruction of the United States.

As for me, I’m with George Orwell: “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” To all you rough men (and women), my eternal thanks.

UPDATE:  I haven’t figured out yet how to upload videos at this new site, but I think this gloriously harmonized Abba song (and, yes, I like Abba) is a great tribute to our troops, since it’s a reminder that soldiers do what they have to do, moving forward in battle serving as an inspiration to the rest of us in good times and bad.