I know people are somewhat sensitive when the issue of patriotism and anti-Americanism comes up, but it is an issue that needs to be discussed nonetheless. We can pretend it does not exist. We can also acknowledge its existance, but work to dismiss unfair charges against people.
I created this diary to discuss anti-Americanism and to see what insights people here can provide. I will address some practical examples of what I think are displays of anti-Americanism.
When you call someone or something anti-American on this site, the typical response is an accusation, in the mold of the following statements:
- You are a Republican
- Why are you repeating Republican talking points?
- Troll
- Hey, aren't you on Joementum's payroll?
Okay, I will address the second accusation. The fact that Republicans are abusing the 'anti-American' tag, does not mean that it does not exist, or that any charge of anti-Americanism is somehow helping Republicans. Consider the following: if we will not deal with anti-American sentiment in our own community, then who will? Obviously, the Republicans, and they will get electoral gains in the process. It's essential that we rid liberalism of its perceived anti-American taint and do so forcefully.
Definition
So what is anti-Americanism? Is it opposing quelling the rebellion in Iraq, as some have argued I believe? Absolutely not. Honorable people can hold different opinions about this subject. Paul Hackett, an honorable serviceman who has risked his life fighting a war he did not support, is one example. Surely, he should not be called anti-American. An honest debate is essential for a democracy, and we must not refrain from criticizing the commander-in-chief when we believe his policies are hurting our country.
It's difficult to give one definition that includes the nuances I believe are absolutely necessary when we are discussing such topics. Anti-Americanism is, I believe, (1) displaying an extreme fixation on America's misdeeds, (2) giving support or comfort to the enemies of the United States (and I do not advocate a broad interpretation of this) and (3) displaying hatred for America or anything related to it, for an irrational reason.
Two is, obviously, most often the case with foreigners. Americans have a reason to be fixated on American policy, and that is because they live in America and the government is acting in their name, with their tax dollars. Three is most the case with people who burn flags and chant "Red, White, Blue, We Spit on You".
The first one is interesting. It's the same thing that you see with Israel, people discriminate. People fixate on things that America or Israel do, while turning a blind eye to things that are done by other countries. I am not trying to say that America is perfect. But people's extreme focus on America is for no other reason than anti-Americanism, whether they hate us because we are the world's superpower, it is anti-Americanism.
Noam Chomsky is a good example of this. This man's hatred of America is so great, I don't think he will survive America's downfall. His whole life would have lost meaning and purpose. But he's written a lot of books with arguments! That may be, but what would you think someone with hatred of America would do? Write a 300-page book with "I HATE AMERICA" on every page?
Practical examples
I will give you three examples and would like to hear what you think about it.
(1) When discussing the brutal Iranian regime, I referred to the hostages that were taken at the American embassy. It seems absurd that someone would defend the regime of Khamenei and the holocaust-denying president, but they do exist, unfortunately. The response I got after referring to the hostages was even more absurd, and frankly, quite disturbing. The person asked me, at a harsh tone, whether I knew why they took the hostages, as if that would ever justify doing such a thing to innocents. Consider the following: the person is not willing to allow probable TERRORISTS te be treated harshly at Guantanamo (and rightly so), but he does try to justify taking innocent American hostages? I don't hear anyone saying about the maltreatments in Abu Graib prison: "Do you know WHY they were torturing these people?", so why would anyone try to justify taking Americans hostages? Obviously, the victims were Americans. Such hypocrisy, and it's never in America's favor (except in the case of conservatives, which I don't condone either).
(2) Cindy Sheehan. She referred to the terrorists in Iraq as "freedom fighters". Now, you might think, well, I can understand that she thinks so, after all, they are fighting against the 'occuptation' of their country. Well, no. Aside from the fact that I think that an American citizen should not be speaking this way about people who want to kill our servicemen, she was referring to the "freedom fighters" who were entering Iraq from OTHER countries. So whose freedom is this? Also, don't forget that the people entering Iraq are the Al-Qaeda-members (not all, but most) committing horrendous crimes such as the murder of children, whom were being given candy by our heroes.
Someone said that I, by calling Sheehan anti-American, did the same for everyone who supported her. I did no such thing. Most people who support her, are not aware of her extremism, or give her a pass on this because of her loss. They can be good and honorable people.
Conclusion
I hope everyone agrees with the principle argument that we have to weed out any anti-Americanism that might exist in the progressive community. If we refuse to condemn such comments, we will be condemned by the mainstream of America. But that is not the primary reason why we should do it. We need to condemn such remarks because they are wrong.
Before anyone starts by calling me a Republican, I am a moderate liberal with a strong independent and slight libertarian tilt. Listening to arguments will not hurt, I guarantee.
I would like to hear what you have to say about this.
(You might ask why I have only included liberals in the poll, that's because a conservative would instantly draw 95%+ of the vote, that only give you information about the partisan leanings of this site.)