A constant, but laughable, criticism of Barack Obama is that he is not "American enough." What makes this charge all-the-more ridiculous is that it comes from the mouths of individuals, that just a couple of years ago, were "chatting-up" the notion of an Arnold Schwarzenegger presidency, forgetting for the moment that this would require an Amendment to the Constitution since he is a naturalized citizen. At a time when one American's authenticity (read patriotism and national loyalty) is being questioned, shouldn't the bright light of scrutiny also be applied to those of more dubious provenance?
The issue of Obama’s "American-ness" is not even worth arguing about. (Neither is that of John McCain, who, by the way was born outside the United States to American military parents.) But yet, commentators on the Right just can’t seem to let go of what they perceive to be "red meat" where Senator Obama is concerned. But as I always say, "what’s good for the goose is good for the gander." At the risk of sounding a uncharacteristically edgy, I am going to take issue with a few prominent, and rather outspoken individuals, who for the purposes of this diary, I shall refer to as "pseudo-Americans." American citizens they may be, their frequent condescension is both misplaced and presumptuous.
Let's start with Miss Congeniality, Michelle Maglalang Malkin. We all are familiar with Ms. Malkin’s contempt for the Left, and her shrill pontificating on the twin topics of patriotism and treachery. I struggle to understand how this "pseudo-American," having the good fortune to be born on American soil, to alien parents, finds the audacity to denigrate people among those whose parents and grandparents actually built this society with their blood, sweat, and tears. Malkin should stop crowing and be thankful, like the rest of us, for what she has been given. Instead, she bites the hand that feeds her.
My second subject is none other than Ramesh Ponnuru, the Princeton-educated son of Indian parents who has enriched himself by spouting Conservative rhetoric in the pages of the National Review and Washington Post while condemning anything to the left of William F. Buckley. Where was he and his family, in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when exploited Americans, over-worked and under-paid, fought to establish labor unions (of which he apparently disapproves) and thus improve their lot in life? How difficult has it been to succeed, to the extent that he has, in a country where most of the heavy lifting has already been done, by others less privileged? Each day that Ponnuru holds forth in his columns, he thumbs his nose at half of America. Where is the patriotism in that?
Dinesh D’Souza is a special brand of "pseudo-American." An obvious late-arrival to these shores, his condescending message is that he is a Christian and you are not, and by association, you are neither worthy nor patriotic. D’Souza, who has been known to bed down with the likes of Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham, projects an air of indignant, moral superiority, while rubbing our noses in what he considers to be our spiritual inadequacy.
It turns my stomach to hear Right-wing pundits imply that Barack Obama is somehow alien and less of an American than Joe Six-Pack. Because of his name, his distinctive features, the color of his skin, his different ideas, and where he takes his family on vacation? If those were the standards by which we assess one’s authenticity as an American, and if this great nation did not permit freedom of speech, we would have put gags in the mealy mouths of Malkin, Ponnuru, and D’Souza long ago.