From the comments that inevitably accompany the posting of this cartoon, I’m supposed to think that “Kevin” is an asshole. The artist chose to depict the young man with his feet up on his desk. The problem with this is that while perhaps this young man is not standing to say the pledge because he’s lazy or a prick, this young man is meant to represent anyone who chooses not to stand. So, problem number one is that this cartoon is saying that anyone who doesn’t stand for the pledge is doing so because he’s just being a punk. Since many people who choose not to stand do so for, you know, a reason, Breen commits a classic ‘strawman” fallacy.
Secondly, regardless of the reason that Kevin refuses to stand, which I’ll get to in a minute, the teacher points out that Kevin is acting within his rights. In West Virginia State Bd. of Educ. v. Barnette, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that students could not be compelled to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. The teacher’s subtext here is “I am going to publicly shame you for choosing to exercise your rights.” If the marine protected the student’s right to stay seated, isn’t the student choosing to exercise this right a validation of the marine’s sacrifice? If the marine is upset, perhaps he had a different motivation. You can’t say you’re defending someone’s rights, then become upset when they exercise those rights that you defended. Free speech protection does not protect speech which the majority agrees, because that would be superfluous. It protects unpopular speech.
Now, let’s take a look at the reason that Kevin refuses to stand. As I said above, we’re led to believe that Kevin is just an asshole who wants to be difficult. How about this scenario? Kevin’s father was a soldier who did three tours in Iraq. He was scheduled to be discharged, having honored his commitment to his country, but instead he was deployed again. On that tour Kevin’s father was killed. Kevin understandably feels betrayed by the country his father gave his life to serve. Is Kevin an asshole now?
Lastly, and probably the point that will generate the most hate mail, we have the idea that the soldier cannot stand because he was protecting Kevin’s right not to stand. Before I continue, I feel I should say that I served for six years. My brother served for four years. My father served in Vietnam. I understand what it means to be a part of the military, and I don’t trivialize the sacrifices that servicemen and servicewomen make. I don’t, however, believe it’s accurate to say that all members of the military are “protecting our freedoms.” Which freedoms, exactly, are being protected in Iraq? There were no weapons of mass destruction, according to President George W. Bush. Our country was not in danger from Iraq, much less our freedoms. If anything, our actions in Iraq, for which I do not blame the military but rather the men and women who sent them there, have endangered our country, and in turn, our freedoms. If we are concerned about protecting our freedoms, perhaps we should shift our gaze to the politicians who have done more damage to American’s freedoms than al-Qaeda ever could.
Ultimately, this cartoon is a simplistic look at an issue and serves to highlight how people typically stick to their initial, instinctual reaction rather than really analyze a situation. The world is not black and white, but rather shades of grey. Fifty, however, seems excessive.
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