Because the right works so hard to make me feel that way.
I've been turning a recent experience around in my head for a couple of days and would like to relate it here. My first diary, I'm nervous. The village I live in in upstate New York (about 50 miles from NYC) has an annual festival called "Great American Weekend" on the weekend closest to Independence Day. I've only lived here for two years, and this is the first time I've actually been able to attend some of the festivities. Craft and antique vendors, carnival, face-painting, food, typical stuff. I was looking for Stuckeyville when we decided on our town.
The closing program on Sunday night, July 2nd, was a show of trampoline acrobats, music by Jimmy Sturr (the Polka King, who's hometown is nearby), and a laser-light show (no fireworks here because insurance is too expensive). Sounded like good fun since I have an 8yo and a 7yo.
So, we get there for the acrobats. Nice enough, but underwhelming. Then the propaganda came on. I didn't know too much about Jimmy Sturr and the polka music was all right. But his band playing "God Bless the USA" arghhhh, worshipping the flag, saluting the veterans in the audience (that part was all right though it seemed to me would be more appropriate for Memorial or Veterans Days). Then our old Congressman Ben Gilman got called up to speak. I really never had much problem with Ben because he was a thorn to the Republicans from within and he was way better than my current Sue Kelly though, of course, I would love a Dem in the office (go, John Hall!!!). But he goes into this whole emotional riff on an airline flight being delayed to bring some Marines home to get the right-wing part of the crowd riled up. But I'm dealing so far, won't this be over soon so we can get to the light show? Ack, it's only 8:00, still an hour or more of this stuff to go.
And they saved the worst for last. Hold on to your hats, it was a freak-show so amazingly breathtaking as to be almost unimaginable. The person they brought on to speak last--jeez, my heart is pounding with outrage now with just the 2-day-old memory of it--was Curtis Sliwa. That's right, of the Guardian Angels, WABC (basically right-wing radio) left-right crossfire-type talk show with Ron Kuby (who he said was probably off burning a flag somewhere that day). He talked about how he had to come all the way "up here" to the Hudson Valley to find "real Americans". Seriously, a lot of what he said was a blur to me from that point on, but was pure ugliness wrapped in "patriotic" rhetoric. I would have to think that a large number of people in that audience were more than uncomfortable with this. Granted, the town does lean right, but the Repub-to-Democrat registration ratio is only 3-to-2, so, like I said, this show was insulting a lot of people.
The question I've been pondering since then is "Why does the right-wing need to be so nasty and ugly to Americans who think liberally?" Ugy enough to make your neighbors feel bad at a community event (I'm tearing up now). You know, my husband and I call Bush an idiot and a moron and an embarrassment in the privacy of our own home and to people we know agree with us. But we soft-pedal it with people we know lean right and may even, gag, respect the man. We try to stick to our positions on actual issues instead of getting personal. The right seems to have no such qualms demonizing liberals in the public discourse in the UGLIEST of ways (see recent NYT flap). It just reminds me of that line from "The American President": "they claim to love America, but clearly hate Americans."
Thanks for reading, I still don't feel better. I had a talk with my 8yo yesterday about the ugliness and hope she and my 7yo didn't have much of this sink in. And I didn't even get to see the laser show because the 7yo fell asleep. Guess I'll have to complain to the event organizers.