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The War is Lost, At Least in Parts of the South
by James Glaser
I have been in the South for only a year now, but I have noticed one big change, backing for President Bush and his war in Iraq has pretty much evaporated. . . at least visually. Last year at this time, just after the big hurricane hit the Gulf, there were signs everywhere supporting Bush, and the war, and the troops. Now those signs are gone. To be honest my sampling of the South is limited to a stretch of Northern Florida from Jacksonville on the east to Pensacola on the west, about 360 miles. Also a bit into southern Alabama and Georgia. When I first came down here there was cardboard cutouts of the President in gas stations, yard signs professing trust in the President, and flags everywhere. Today I noticed more Confederate flags than American, and the American flags I did see were faded and torn. I saw no signs supporting Bush or his war; they just kind of faded away. I still see those magnetic signs on cars that say they support the troops. You know the ones that are supposed to look like ribbons. I would bet millions of them were made in China, and I saw them selling for as high as $4.95 a piece. Somebody got rich off them. It must be hard for a person to take down the flags and signs in their yard, supporting the war and the President. A few years ago, those people were so sure of what George Bush was doing, and now they can see that they were wrong to back an illegal war. For many, taking down those signs is a form of eating crow. You know the people they have argued with for a few years now, notice those signs are gone. It takes a strong man to admit that he was wrong, but I have learned that many people in the South have strong characters, and when the realize that they have made a mistake, they don't hem and haw around, but get right to correcting what they have done. George Bush has lost the war in Iraq, and he has lost much of his strongest support here at home. I believe soon I will start seeing anti-war signs going up down here. |
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