I have never been so angry at a commercial or so tempted to punch a television. There was a certain commercial aired that is set on a subway train. A man is riding alone when five ghostly apparitions suddenly appear. Each apparition describes its murder by illicit drug smugglers and terrorists. At the end of the commercial, the man is left riding the subway alone with his guilt as the screen flashes "drug money funds terrorism." What a jerk, huh? This subway-riding dude smoked a few doobies in college while listening to Dark Side of the Moon, and now an innocent Chilean child has been murdered as a result.

Look, obviously, if you follow the drug money chain, a link to terrorist funding can be made. But so does driving SUVs, so does relying on any oil-fueled mechanism and, ultimately, so does living in America. Commercials like this one only offer specified truth. The groups that produce them may be trying to do some good, but when it comes down to it, this commercial's message is lying by omission. Lots of the luxuries Americans now rely on can be traced terrorist funding, but there's no need for overbearing moralists to deceive the general public by not providing the whole truth about what does and does not fund terrorism. The soccer moms who appreciate these commercials smile to themselves, then jump into their Suburbans and drive to Shell (murderer of hundreds of Africans in their quest for oil), fill up the tank with Super Premium, poison our air, and don't bat an eye.

Disagree with me if you please--it's no secret I'm a bleeding heart liberal. But I'm also a firm believer in honesty and I don't think you can disagree that "drug money funds terrorism" commercials are deceiving. You can be pro-war or anti-war, pro-Bush or anti-Bush, you can be pro- or anti- whatever the hell you want, so long as you are honest. I don't care. A commercial like the one I described is not honest; it is, however, manipulative. It plays on the ignorant masses, the same people who eat salad and drink Diet Coke while puffing on their Marlboro Lights, the same people who despise racism yet profess that homosexuality is disgusting, and the same people who cite Sparknotes in their bibliographies (that one's for you Mrs. Russell). But how does one rebel against deceiving slogans like the commercial above? Rebel against ignorance. Read your damn paper in the morning, watch the news even if it's depressing, and for God-sakes, watch "The Daily Show" with John Stewart! Have opinions and have the knowledge to back them up. No one can take advantage of you if you have the foresight to repel them. However, if you decide to sit on your ass, eating cheese doodles and watching Crank Yankers, ignorance WILL thrive and terrorist groups WILL get stronger. It's your choice, but please remember, if anything funds terrorism--IGNORANCE FUNDS TERRORISM.