Tie a Damn Yellow Ribbon...

I failed to notice when it returned, but the yellow ribbon is back, this time as an inducement to "support our troops." Contrary to its seeming timelessness, its history goes back only a little further than I do - to the early 1970s, when it was primarily connected with ex-convicts returning home. In 1979, this seedy meaning dropped away and the yellow ribbon became a symbol of the American hostages in Iran. After that, it was revived again during the First Gulf War, in which guise it's come back again.

Which is, of course, stupid. Volunteer soldiers fighting abroad are hardly related to convicts returning home from prison, except in the barest, weakest way. More than the ribbon imagery, though, this little motif is detestable as yet another example of right-wing sloganeering. "Support our troops" - which really means, "Support our warmongering president" - has now finally and permanently entered the pantheon of rightist terms of art, where it joins doublespeak like "pro-life," "death tax," and "regime change." Hell - and "freedom," too. Does W have any clear idea what he means when he blathers about "freedom," like he did yesterday at the U.N.? Every time a term like these drifts into the parlance, it gets a little harder to talk and think clearly about what's going on.

But then, that's the point.