Why Do I Pick on Al Martinez?

By all that I can tell, Los Angeles Times columnist Al Martinez is a downright decent person and a very fine writer. I am an avid reader of his columns, and his pieces often stimulate me to write a blog in disagreement to something that he wrote. Al is opposed to the Iraq war. That is at least in as much as he feels that we should no longer be engaged in the effort. I believe that it is accurate to say that Al holds the position that the Iraq war is a reckless and insensitive adventure on the part of Pres. George W. Bush. I, on the other hand, do not agree that the Iraq experiment is a reckless adventure, nor that the President is insensitive.

So why is it that I target Al as a messenger of the anti-Iraq war movement? I do so because, unlike politicians, Al is an influential writer who is absent a pecuniary or power driven agenda. I’d be willing to bet that Al writes from his heart. You won’t catch him testing the political wind before he takes pen in hand. That makes his message much more influential then that of many politicians. And, that’s why I want to convert him to my way of thought. I don’t have any real expectation of being able to do so, but any fair minded man is susceptible to new ideas given sufficient exposure to differing views. There is, therefore, a hope that Al can be influenced.

There is a great probability that both Al and I will pass on without changing either’s viewpoint. And, we are both approaching that part of our lives when the inevitable may not be all that far in the future. But, it is not for me that I write the truth as I see it. It is for my grandchildren. I suspect it is the same for Al. It is our grandchildren who will inherit what we and their parents have left for better or worse. I see Al’s position, not Al himself, as a great threat to our collective grandchildren.

There is an odious worldwide war in progress that was declared upon the non-Muslim world. It is termed a fourth generation war, which is unlike anything that the world has ever experienced. There are no battle lines and the Geneva Convention be damned because in fourth generation warfare there are no rules except one, win! Al and I don’t yet agree on this point. That does not make Al my enemy. He is my honorable, philosophical opponent. The same cannot be said for many others espousing Al’s philosophical position.

So, I pick on Al, an honorable opponent, in a world, which in many ways is dishonorable. He is welcome in my home anytime. I cannot say the same for the leftist leadership of the Democratic Party.