The Guardian has leaked some passages from Sarah Palin's much anticipated new book, America By Heart, in which she goes after President Obama. In the byline, Guardian writes, "Palin tackles areas that even Obama's 2008 Republican challenger, John McCain, regarded as off-limits: race and Obama's incendiary former pastor, the Rev Jeremiah Wright."
Says Palin:
"I think ordinary Americans are tired of Obama's global apology tour and of hearing about what a weak country America is from left-wing professors and journalists,"
I am sure, Governor Palin, that many Americans do flinch on the inside when our President mentions to those in other countries that we have not been perfect as a country morally, or journalists criticize this or that part of America as it currently is.
Believe it or not, liberals too can get uncomfortable when our country is - verbally, criticized. I know I have. But when Obama acknowledges to certain parts of the world that America is - not a weak country, but a country that has sometimes rushed too quickly into war, as a country that has made mistakes, he is not changing a single mind in his intended audience. They know better than anything he could tell them about how the US has affected or not affected their lives. All he is saying is that he too is aware of what they are aware of, that this admission of American imperfection isn't too sensitive to admit in the course of mutual relations. Other countries too are imperfect and they should admit this.
You see, at the end of the day, it is an exercise in dealing with other people. In dealing with other people, it helps to acknowledge the truth. Real relations with the rest of the world can't proceed without dealing with other peoples successfully. When Obama admits that America isn't perfect overseas, he's doing something necessary to create the trust needed to build a relationship. It's a part of what Political Scientists call "Soft power". But it's really just an international extension of the same principles you apply every day in your relations with other people. No one would like someone who would never admit they were wrong, even if they had committed wrong, never admitted a mistake, even if they had committed a mistake.
What really impresses the world, IMO, is not the words that come out of our politicians. If that were the case, the bluster of "Baghdad Bob" would have worked and the propaganda of Kim Jong Il would convince the world that his nation is really a paradise. People are smarter than that. What impresses the world is real strength, a combination of power, wisdom, and justice. We can't become a wiser, more just country unless we're willing to criticize ourselves occasionally, even to say that maybe some things can still be unfair in America. That even though everyone has an opportunity, maybe the playing field isn't always level. To improve means recognizing first. It means not being afraid of recognizing. You might disagree with a particular criticism, but just because liberals might criticize America, and it may seem that we're criticizing America itself, we're not; we're trying to make this a better place.
Look at the results. From Presidents to activists, Republican and Democratic, have made America a stronger place by criticizing it first. The anti-federalists demanded that the Constitution be amended to add greater individual rights. And so we got the Bill of Rights. The abolitionists called out the injustice of slavery. And so we can emancipation. The muckrackers called out poor food quality and child labor. And so on and so on. Liberals have made America a stronger place. FDR took America out of the Depression and made us a superpower. JFK stood up to a bullying Soviet leader and restored America's confidence in the Cold War. Under Clinton, 22 million jobs were created. What's more important, words, or results?
Contrary to what you think, we liberals are proud to be Americans. We care just as much about America as you, and the more we care, the more we will fight you.