THIS OBSERVATION WOULD STILL BE SAPPY, but it would make more sense if the missile silos in question contained missiles that were, you know, the kind that kill people.

It seems to me that this post — which is from TAPPED, a site I like a lot — demonstrates the sort of symbolic thinking that has deprived the anti-nuclear and anti-war movements of credibility. Then there’s the magical-thinking wish-fulfillment angle: some kid makes a sappy gesture and the threat of nuclear war is ended. Yeah, TAPPED admits it’s sappy, but it’s got about as much connection to reality as Beavis (or was it Butthead’s) remark that “wouldn’t it be great if chicks just did whatever you want?” Only here it’s, “wouldn’t it be great if a wave of emotionalism ended the threat of violence?” Actually, of course, it was the Cold War that ended the Soviet nuclear threat — because we won. The much smaller Al Qaeda nuclear threat will be ended the same way, and no other. Sorry guys. This isn’t one of your best.