The War on Common Sense Goes On

by Hardly Waite

During the 2002 Super Bowl game, the U. S government wasted $3.2 million of our tax money on a couple of lame commercials that put forth the silly notion that people who buy drugs are aiding the “terrorists.”  The idea seems doubly silly when you try to imagine how many hard-core heroin addicts went cold turkey when they learned from the ads that their self-destructive behavior might be hurting our national War on Terrorism. Or how many patriotic high school kids decided to give up dope smoking just to strike fear into Osama Bin Laden’s heart.

A San Francisco Chronicle reader named David Fiol wrote in a letter to the editor:

During the Super Bowl, the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy ran ads suggesting that those who buy drugs help to fund terrorists. That may be true, but doesn’t the same reasoning apply to those addicted to the profligate use of oil? … When it comes to funding terrorists, are the selfish egotists guzzling gas in their SUVs and wasting energy to heat and cool their oversized homes any better than drug addicts?

Right, David.  And we could probably list a few dozen more common behaviors of good, patriotic Americans that feed the “terrorists” both financially and spiritually. But don’t expect anytime soon to see million-dollar Super Bowl ads denouncing excessive air travel or lavish spending on automobiles or the use of power lawn mowers. And don’t expect to see an ad showing an elegant woman being hustled off to Guantanamo for buying diamonds, although it is well known that “the Evil Ones”  have used tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in diamond industry profits to fund their activities.

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