Resist the Pollyanna Label
In your own local war on terror, you will encounter those who believe that fear is the appropriate substitute for courage. They will perceive your active fight against the forces of terror as a willful disregard of the terror alive in our world. They will not understand your defiance of terror. They will call you a Pollyanna; they will call for more guns and more bombs. They will not fire the guns; they will not drop the bombs.
The Pollyanna is the foolish optimist, and we, engaged in this war, are aware of the stakes, the opportunities and the consequences of failure. Optimism is not our game. We know that things are bad. To disagree with the source of badness is not a disregard of its existence. Our open-eyed opposition of those who would instigate and perpetuate terror is motivated by the knowledge that if we do not fight against terror, terror will prevail and the terrorists will reign.
The Pollyannas of this war are the globally minded percussionists giving hell to the drums of war. These purposefully ignorant men and women have guided us with the gossamer wings of optimism into a crippling conflict that will take generations to mend. Our mission is not accomplished. Instead of six weeks or months, this war (on a previously minor front of the "terrorist global jihad") will last more than six years. We were not greeted with flowers. We were not perceived as liberators. It will cost more than a trillion dollars and none of that money is likely to come from Iraqi oil revenue. Dick Cheney and his ilk all belong in ringlets and petticoats, so we can see them as the blood soaked Pollyannas that they really are. And then we need to get back to having a good time.
