Pimping for War:
George F. Will
by William Hughes
He lives in tony Chevy Chase, Maryland, just inside Washington D.C.’s
Capitol Beltway and he has never heard a shot fired in anger. His name
is George F. Will. He loves major league baseball, ex-British Czarina,
Margaret Thatcher, and just about any kind of U.S. war, no matter how
lethal, as long as he doesn’t have to fight in any of them. We know all
of this because he writes nonstop about them in his syndicated columns.
In a recent spiel, he wrote a hawkish piece of nonsense, entitled,
“What Makes the U.N. Legitimate?” The article advocated, even before
any White House policy announcement, a “preemptive” U.S. strike against
Iraq. The UN was described by him as a “tar baby” to be avoided at all
cost , and the few hearty Democrats, who weren’t jumping fast enough on
the War Band Wagon, were branded as Jeffersonian partisans, lacking
vision, and “anti-nationalist.”
Appropriately enough, Will’s rant appeared in Rupert Murdock’s Israel
First organ, the “New York Post,” (09/18/02). This is the repulsive
rag, where pro-Ariel Sharon disciples, like A.M. Rosenthal, John
Podhoretz, Daniel Pipes, and others of that Zionoid ilk, go about the
business of pimping passionately for a U.S. war against Iraq.
Mr. Will also used his article to gratuitously insult France,
America’s most faithful ally during our revolutionary war period. He
labeled it as a nation with a “frozen reflection of the world in 1945.”
It bothered me, too, that Will cited the exemplary patriot and legal
giant, Chief Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, in trying to push his
Iraq-bashing scheme. Because, Marshall was a Federalist, and a strong
nationalist, like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, Will
believed he had a solid early American precedent to rely on in making
his war-making case. What a gross distortion of our history!
Marshall, one of Virginia’s greatest sons, fought in the Revolutionary
War against the British imperialists, and even spent that horrific
winter at Valley Forge with his commander-in-chief. The idea that this
gallant champion of our republic and Constitution would sanction a
preemptive strike, without a congressional declaration of War, against
a foe, that has done us no harm and presents no real military risk to
us, is simply unfathomable.
To add insult to our national pride, Will took a pointed slap at
another of the great Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson. He railed
against his republican principles and view of the Constitution, mocking
them as calling only for a “confederation” of states. He totally
ignored the fact that this was the same Jefferson, who drafted the
Declaration of Independence, initiated the Louisiana Purchase, and
opened up the West to exploration for the then-young nation by
sponsoring the Lewis and Clark Expedition. And, that one of the truly
brilliant co-authors of the Constitution, another great son of
Virginia, James Madison, later in his distinguished political career,
endorsed Jefferson’s republican ideology.
One of Will’s sharpest critics is the author of “Wits and Sages,” Neil
A. Grauer. In his compelling 1984 book, he called him “One of the
Penatagon’s most uncompromising advocates” and “favorite columnist.”
Grauer also retold how Will had helped prepare Ronald Reagan, in 1980,
for his presidential debate with Jimmy Carter. After breaching this
cardinal rule of journalism. Will, ever the pious hypocrite, and
without revealing his back stage role to the audience, then went on
ABC-TV “Nightline, praising Reagan’s debating skills. He tried to
minimize his unprofessional conduct by saying, he was only an
“observer” at the preparation rehearsal. Sure George, we know!
If all of that wasn’t bad enough, Will, in 1982, redrafted a speech
Reagan was to give to the (double gasp) British Parliament. As a
reward, Reagan appointed the slippery Will to the nonpaying, but
prestigious Board of Visitors of the U.S. Naval Academy. The president
also gave Will’s then wife, Madeleine, a $68,000 a year sinecure at the
department of education, according to Grauer.
Columnist Jimmy Breslin dubbed the ethics-challenged pundit, “Will the
Shill,” and Gary Trudeau, the celebrated cartoonist, gave him a good
roasting for also sponsoring a pre-Inauguration dinner for his right
wing crony Reagan.
Mr. Will hasn’t changed much since his days as a Reagan and Thatcher
lapdog. Today, he still spewing out pro-war propaganda to please the
Pentagon, the White House, the Israeli Firsters, London, and the War
Party in the Congress.
Thomas Jefferson, once said, after an unpleasant visit with the
demented King George III, at St. James’ Palace, on March 15, 1786,
that the Brits required a kick in their pants in order to acquire
“common good manners.”
I think if Jefferson were around today, and read “What Makes the U. N.
Legitimate?,” he might say the same thing about its silly author, the
pompous George F. Will.
William Hughes is a Baltimore attorney and the author of
"Andrew Jackson
vs. New World Order" (Authors Choice Press), which is available online.
Buy the related book (s) now:
by courtesy & © 2002 William Hughes
