Sacrifice

In an earlier post, I pointed out that the president has now outsourced the question of whether we should be in Iraq to his military commanders. In his Independence Day speech (and probably many times since then), the president also called for Americans to continue making sacrifices in support of his Excellent Iraqi Adventure: "Victory in this struggle will require more patience, more courage, and more sacrifice."

I am reminded of a quote from The Fountainhead, where the villain Ellsworth Toohey is pulling back the curtain on his plan for world domination: "Just listen to any prophet and if you hear him speak of sacrifice—run. Run faster than from a plague. It stands to reason that where there’s sacrifice, there’s someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there’s service, there’s someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master."