I stole this one from Charlie, who was the first guy I heard use it. But:
In and around the time we were getting ready to invade Iraq, you might remember that there was a lot of right-wing intimidation in the air. Anyone who said, ummm, you know, maybe this half-baked chest-thumping invasion thing isn’t the kewlest idea in the world was pilloried as a weakling traitor who wanted the terrorists to win.
And it got sort of cartoonish. The Leader himself led the way - as he so often does - by telling us that Teh Terrorists “hate freedom.” Right-wingers picked that up; just last year, Bill-O actually asked Ted Turner: “Why do you hate America?” And it got to be so hilarious that left wing milquetoast treacherous members of the “Democrat Party” adopted it as their own.
And so I was out one night with Charlie and said something about Iraq. He turned to me - this was after two beers - and said, “Why do you hate freedom?”
This can be used in virtually any context, so long as it involves criticism - however muted - or any action that runs counter to the mandates of our Glorious Leader of the Great Patriotic Conservative Movement.
Thus: Columbia University permitted the president of Iran to speak.
Why does Columbia hate America?
The Mennonite Central Committee dared to sit down and talk with the Iranian president.
Why do the Mennonites hate freedom?
But now we can also expand this to hating the troops. Because as we’ve seen here on this site, the conservative movement has officially deemed any questioning of the war effort whatsoever to be disrespect and denigration of the troops.
So: Retired generals say maybe Iraq wasn’t the smartest thing our nation has ever done.
Why do they hate the troops?
And not only do they hate freedom or hate America or hate the troops, but they want the terrorists to win. This is key. Because unless you’re marching in rhetorical lockstep with Hannity and Malkin and our other great conservative couch-bound warriors, you are encouraging the terrorists. In fact, I’ll bet your middle name is Osama.
