By now I would say most of us have seen the comments of one Michele Bachmann, House Representative from Minnesota and John McCain surrogate, yesterday on "Hardball with Chris Matthews". Just about everyone I have talked to is appalled at her statements about Barack Obama and maybe other members of congress beign anti-American but she seems to be getting a pass on calling Obama's associates anti-American. Friends I believe this is a very slippery slope we are on and we need to make a stand right now. We need to define what anti American is and isn't. And no matter if we disagree with someone's words or not we should not allow them to be termed anti-American if they have not in fact shown themselves to be.
As I watched this exchange live as it happened last night on "Hardball with Chris Matthews" I really had to struggle to compose myself. I mean the truth is we all know that for the most part Michele Bachmann is batshit crazy. But to so endanger our country with the rhetoric she was spewing seemed so over the top for any person not in a padded cell let alone a siting U.S. Congress woman. I came away from watching that interview several times with a purpose. While I know that we all would rather that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers would not come up in this campaign because it may harm Barack Obama politically, I do think we need to draw a line in the sand and make some distinctions. No matter what your feelings on the two men in question they are not the boogey men and we shouldn't allow them to be portrayed as such.
Here is the central question. What makes someone anti American??? Better yet who gets to make that determination??? One of the reasons that this country is the greatest country on earth is because we have the right to free speech. But Republicans/NeoCons would rather that we couldn't exercise that right when there is dissent. In my opinion just because someone is against the actions of the government does not make them anti American. People who feel that they can judge someone as anti American simply because that person speaks out against specific American actions need to check themselves. Who gives YOU the right to make that distinction? Where in the constitution or in the Bill of Rights does it say that speaking against the government's actions are anti American? If you want to follow that logic then every militia man is anti American, every person who spoke against Bill Clinton was anti American, every anti-war protestor is anti-American. Where does it begin and end in your world? Or is it just Democrats/Liberals/Progressives who are anti American for wanting to better our country and having a different opinion on how to do that? Ohhhhh I get it now...
For the dimwits who only saw the abbreviated youtube comments of Rev Wright I invite you to watch the extended version. Rev Wright is an example of someone who has criticized America for some of its decisions. But he is ALSO a former marine who was willing to fight and potentially die for this country. How many of these people calling him anti-American have ever worn a uniform? If your parent criticizes you and tells you that you are doing wrong and are headed on the wrong path, if they tell you that you deserve some of the grief you recieve in your life becaue of decisions you have made.....does that mean they are against you? For everything you want to say about Rev. Wright understand that his church helped hundreds if not thousands of Americans.. If he hated America why would he be tryinng to help her people?
I will even go so far as to say, while not defending his despicable actions, that Bill Ayers shouldnt be classified as "anti american". No, Bill Ayers was not a close friend or mentor to Barack Obama but he did work with him on a board and in my opinion was attempting to make positive change in this country in terms of the education of the kids in Chicago. So yeah I don't mind exploring Bill Ayers too. You see Bill Ayers was anti Vietnam war and all of his actions were aimed at getting the government to end that war, he was never anti American. He veered wildly off course into depraved violence as a tool for change but he had the same aspirations as all of those who were peacefully protesting the war back then: the immediate withdrawal of troops from Vietnam. Fourty years later do we find him in a garage in Bolivia plotting a take over of the government? No, we find him still here in America trying to help our educational system. He himself repudiated the attacks on our country on 9-11 in a letter to the editor on September 15, 2001 even though no one EVER talks about that. He has also said in the same letter to the editor that his words were twisted in the article that came out on 9-11 and that he never said he wished he would have bombed more. Bill Ayers had and has the wealth and means to live other places in the world. Yet he not only still lives here, he also gives of his time to help with the education of children in Chicago. Somehow that doesn't strike me as the profile of a person who is anti-American.
So again I ask you, what defines someone as anti American? Can I call John McCain anti American because of the many times he voted against the minimum wage? Can I call John McCain anti American for making propaganda tapes for the Viet Cong under duress? Can I call John McCain anti American for refusing to vote for a bill that allowed for harsher penalties for a person who bombs an abortion clinic? Can I call John McCain anti American for saying that its the governments fault that people are losing their pensions and life savings? Can I call John McCain anti American for criticizing and voting Ronald Reagan for his military directions on Lebanon? Can I call John McCain for opposing Clinton's military actions in Somalia?
Now if ANYONE can give me a coherent explanation of how any of Barack Obama's associates or Barack himself are anti-American I would love to hear you out. But please don't use that "he said" bullshit. All kinds of people love this country but speak out against its imperfections. (Martin Luther King jr. comes to mind) And if you don't like it that those same people get to share America with you, then maybe YOU are the one who is anti-American!
To make a contribution to Michele Bachmann's Democratic opponent in her reelection bid, El Tinkleberg click here
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