GOP Newspeak?

Rick Santorum is (rightly) under fire for the dismissive comments he made about gay military service members during the last GOP debate. You can explore the details here. I'm more interested in the response from GOProud, a gay Republican group which (rightly) demanded an apology from Santorum. But the group's demand then went a step further. According to Slate, GOProud spokesman Jimmy LaSalvia said, "I don't care if you're running for dog-catcher, if a soldier asks you a question, the first thing out of your mouth is: 'I thank you for your service'." Really? Says who? Granted, LaSalvia is justifiably (if crudely) asking for simple respect. On the other hand, his indignant demand smacks of Orwellian Newspeak, a dystopian method of expression in "1984" designed to instill a certain worldview while squashing any thoughts considered heretical by the State. When did the possibility of not automatically thanking the troops effectively become a thoughtcrime? Poverty of thought leads to slavery of thought. And, as the Roman poet Ovid said, it is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery.