American Legion's Selective Outrage

By Lee Russ

Friday, August 26, 2005 at 06:40 AM

Editor & Publisher reports that "American Legion American Legion Declares War on Protestors -- Media Next?" (August 24, 2005).  According to the E&P piece, the national commander, Thomas Cadmus, said ""The American Legion will stand against anyone and any group that would demoralize our troops, or worse, endanger their lives by encouraging terrorists to continue their cowardly attacks against freedom-loving peoples."

Just wondering how the good commander intends to interpret that little phrase "anyone..that will..endanger their lives by encouraging terrorists to continue their cowardly attack..."  Do you think Mr. Cadmus intends for his organization's almost 3 million members to "stand against" Ann Coulter whose inflammatory rhetoric against Muslims probably makes great propaganda for recruiting new terrorists?

Or maybe Mr. Cadmus will begin a major push for the completion of an objective investigation of the role that the Department of Defense had in promulgating policies of torturing prisoners in Iraq.  I understand that the pictures and stories of the torture have had a major inflammatory effect in the Muslim world, especially since many of the people tortured had absolutely nothing to do with terrorist activity.

Is that what the American Legion has in mind?