[bobnat]

As an addendum to the above and how we create false dichotomies consider this.

Many Americans were against attacking Iraq before it happened. Once the war began, many of those same Americans say that we must support our troops now that they're actually fighting. To show anything less is condemned as being unpatriotic.

Now think of this. These people were against a war that was a possibility, it didn't exist. Once the war became a reality, they gave their agreement by "supporting the troops". If that isn't absurd reasoning what is? It's based on emotion, not logic. Sure, it sucks wind if your relatives are there, but it doesn't abrogate one's responsibility to think. My sister's only child is being shipped to Iraq in December. Does that mean I now give tacit approval just because I have a relative, friend, someone I know at risk of being maimed/killed? Of course not.

The methods used by governments to obtain support, in all forms, many of them of the unthinking type, are numerous. Creating and supporting false dichotomies is one of them.

Nat