Does liberalism equal anti-Americanism?

[Admin]

In My Opinion by Trevor Bothwell

The more I try to convince myself that liberals truly have America’s best interests at heart, the harder it becomes. Whether it’s the constant chants of “quagmire,” the endless whining about Bush’s “lies,” or all the contradictory bellyaching about stealing Mideast oil amidst rising gasoline prices, there’s nothing that brings out liberals’ true colors quite like war.

So I’m just going to come right out and say it. Despite my best efforts to the contrary, I find myself wondering constantly if liberalism isn’t really de facto anti-Americanism. No, really. I’m not just talking run-of-the-mill Bush hatred here. I’m beginning to believe this is a condition of membership before they issue you your club card.

How dare I think such a thing, you ask? Well, before I’m condemned to the gates of hell, let me explain.

Suggestions of this nature always tend to raise the ire of many a liberal, no doubt eliciting accusations of jingoism, “intolerance,” and the like. But regardless of its appearance, this isn’t a cheap ploy to score shock-value points. Nor do I prefer to have to question the devotion of many Americans to their country. Unfortunately, however, the reasons I feel I must abound.

For starters, the concept that liberals despise America -- or at the very least denounce American exceptionalism -- is obvious to many conservatives. But liberals positively chafe at the idea that they’re unpatriotic. In fact, you don’t even need to accuse liberals of a lack of patriotism for them to go on the defensive.

Consider John Kerry. During the Democratic primaries, Republicans merely needed to point out Kerry’s opposition to defense systems throughout the years for the senator to accuse them of attacking his patriotism, and for him to remind everyone -- again -- that he’s a war hero. To listen to liberals, you’d think we were accusing these people of pedophilia. So it kind of makes you wonder, Why all the self-consciousness?

Now, I’m not blatantly accusing Senator Kerry of being anti-American. Lord knows I’d hate to have to put out that brushfire. Besides, we all know how much the French love America.

So let’s consider some real examples of America-hatred, shall we?

When football-star-turned-Army-Ranger Pat Tillman was killed last April in Afghanistan, liberals hadn’t been that excited since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of killing unborn babies on demand. It’s hard to explain the irony surrounding the far-left websites that condemned Tillman for being a “baby killer,” but at least they clarified their stance by celebrating the death of this “dumb jock” who “got what he deserved.” This, however, wasn’t quite as telling as the virtually silent response of the mainstream media to this bile.

On May 12, New York Daily News columnist Michael Goodwin -- no raging right-winger he -- criticized Air America -- the new liberal “equivalent” of conservative talk-radio -- for being “a cartoonish echo chamber” with little more to offer than “crude sex jokes.” He also reported its “rancid venom directed at the President, (Donald) Rumsfeld, Rush Limbaugh, [and] the Catholic Church,” and noted disturbing calls for the torture of Rumsfeld and the murder of President Bush.

The week of May 1-7, Time magazine ran a Bruce Beattie cartoon depicting a terrorist (likely Osama bin Laden) driving a tank with its barrel pointed at a submitting American man and his son standing beside a street sign reading Main St. USA. The caption reads, “Imagine, for a moment, the situation reversed:” The terrorist states, “We’ve invaded to install a government so that you give up democracy. Bonus points for converting to Islam.” This implication of moral equivalence is jaw-dropping. Get it? Democracy is no better than fascist tyranny. The U.S. intentionally targets innocents. America is forcing Muslims to convert to Christianity. Please.

Welcome to 21st century “liberalism,” folks.

In short, the left would rather appease terrorists instead of confronting them; they’d sooner turn over to the U.N. control of our destiny before empowering the U.S. to determine its own fate; and liberal media outlets like CBS and the Washington Post have demonstrated through their publication of the Abu Ghraib prison photos that they’re willing to incite Arab anti-American malice, which they now nonchalantly accept from Islamic terrorists as the principal rationale for the beheading of Nick Berg (as if we hadn’t witnessed the barbaric murder and mutilation of our own troops and civilians at home and in Iraq prior to the release of these photos).

The current scandal over the treatment of Abu Ghraib prisoners is only the latest attempt by liberals to undermine the nobility of our cause in Iraq and the war on terror, as if our soldiers who participated in this atrocity somehow represent the rule instead of the exception. Don’t get me wrong, the guards involved in this mess should be tried swiftly and harshly, and they undoubtedly will. But the media’s simple refusal to simultaneously introduce the soldiers who actually declined to follow those dishonorable orders at Abu Ghraib indicates its preference to exploit this situation as prima facie evidence of the existing state of affairs in American warfighting, and to paint the U.S. in the worst possible light.

In the interest of rationality -- not to mention quelling potential death threats -- I obviously know that there are some sensible liberals out there, but you’d hardly know it listening to the prevailing sentiment on the left. I can even understand why liberals would be upset after being accused of being anti-American. But considering how they act, I can’t understand how they can deny it.

In My Opinion Archives
Trevor Bothwell is editor of The Right Report, and he is also press secretary for Brad Jewitt’s (R-Md.) 2004 campaign for U.S. Congress. Trevor can be contacted at bothwell@therightreport.com.

[rraley]

I must say that I disagree with your thought that liberalism amounts to anti-Americanism. It is this sort of opinion that has caused this nation to be so divided between the red and blue. Yes there are some liberals that are anti-American...the statements of some liberal websites concerning Pat Tillman were absolutely awful and the inability of some liberals to discuss the greatness of our troops are terrible stains on the entire ideology. These people are not an accurate representation of the entire liberal ideology or even most of them for that matter. The same could be said for the most conservative parts of our society as well...their thoughts are wholly un-American as well. Sometimes we try to take the fringe elements of both ideologies and try to paint everyone else who is in the same sort of ideology as the exact same. This is a disservice to the patriotic liberals and conservatives as well as a disservice to truth.
John Kerry does not make a good counterpoint concerning the questioning of his votes on defense systems. The attacks are not meant to attack his patriotism they are questioning his judgement. Rather than run away from that debate Kerry should embrace it for he has damn good points. At the time the weapons systems were costing billions of dollars to an already deficit running national treasury and their effectiveness was questionable. Kerry should discuss that and not just run away - after all is his slogan not bring it on? The Republicans are not questioning his patriotism because it is understood that he does truly love this nation. I do not see how a thirty year public servant and volunteer for the Vietnam War could hate this nation.
What I think is mistaken here in this column is the difference of viewpoint between liberals and conservatives. Conservatives generally see America as fine the way it is - not much change is needed. Liberals meanwhile have a very different viewpoint - that America is great but could be greater. This is what John F. Kennedy said in the sixties and some would say he was unpatriotic but those who are smart would know that he was a true American hero and patriot. So Mr. Bothwell I am sorry but I just do not see it your way.

[newnickname]

I was in a debate with a Left winger the other day when she admitted to believing Socialism would be a good thing. So there I thought OK, well this conversation is over because you are obviously delusional.

[rraley]

Originally posted by newnickname
I was in a debate with a Left winger the other day when she admitted to believing Socialism would be a good thing. So there I thought OK, well this conversation is over because you are obviously delusional.

I am sorry sir, but I do not believe that you should make generalizations like that based on talking to one person. I am probably considered a left-winger and you know what, socialism is terrible because it penalizes personal iniative and squashes the concept of freedom that liberals have always supported. The concept of everyone is equal and the government enforces that strictly sounds nice and all but it can never be acheived. I am a liberal that thinks socialism is ineffective and thinks that your left winger friend needs to reconsider her opinion. I wouldn't consider myself un-American.

[newnickname]

Originally posted by rraley
I am sorry sir, but I do not believe that you should make generalizations like that based on talking to one person. I am probably considered a left-winger and you know what, socialism is terrible because it penalizes personal iniative and squashes the concept of freedom that liberals have always supported. The concept of everyone is equal and the government enforces that strictly sounds nice and all but it can never be acheived. I am a liberal that thinks socialism is ineffective and thinks that your left winger friend needs to reconsider her opinion. I wouldn't consider myself un-American.

I called no one here dilusional, just that person. I beleive it's healthy to have different political beliefs. If we didn't we would probably be Socialistic.

[vraiblonde]

Originally posted by newnickname
I was in a debate with a Left winger the other day

I was in a debate with my Democrat grandmother who is ANYTHING but liberal and she has decided that John Kerry's anti-war antics (such as throwing his medals over the White House fence) are a lie created by George Bush to discredit his opponent. When I pointed out to her that these were rather big news stories, she said that the right-wing media helps create and perpetuate the lie.

What do you say to someone who thinks like that?

[rraley]

Originally posted by newnickname
I called no one here dilusional, just that person. I beleive it's healthy to have different political beliefs. If we didn't we would probably be Socialistic.

Oh sorry about that sir; I misread your statement. And here here to the statement on the different political beliefs. If one side - liberal or conservative completely dominated - our nation would not be what it is today. The political differences of our nation are what make us great.

[rraley]

Originally posted by vraiblonde
I was in a debate with my Democrat grandmother who is ANYTHING but liberal and she has decided that John Kerry's anti-war antics (such as throwing his medals over the White House fence) are a lie created by George Bush to discredit his opponent. When I pointed out to her that these were rather big news stories, she said that the right-wing media helps create and perpetuate the lie.

What do you say to someone who thinks like that?

Kerry definitely did throw something over that stupid fence in a fit of youthful stupidity and irrationality. And tell your mother that yes there is a right-wing media out there and a left-wing media, but that when things hit the mainstream media, they are damn serious and have some rationality to them.

[willie]

When you find an American voter that believes in Socialism, it will generally be a Liberal Democrat but NEVER a Republican. IMHO Socialism is un-American.

[rraley]

Originally posted by willie
When you find an American voter that believes in Socialism, it will generally be a Liberal Democrat but NEVER a Republican. IMHO Socialism is un-American.

That is a fair statement to make I would have to say...I don't know too many Republicans who would say that socialism was just fine. But these left wingers that say they would love socialism would also say that they would vote for Ralph Nader. At least in most cases.
Just to talk a little about our economy here. Our economic system cannot be labeled a pure market economy. True capitalism does not exist in our nation thankfully today (it did in the late 1800s and early 1900s when children had to work 18 hour days and meat was made from rats). We have a mixed system that combines economic independence of capitalism and some common sense regulation from a socialist system. This combination that we have in this nation for our economy has worked great for us over the past hundred years and whoever says that we need to move more socialist or move back to the old system of unchecked capitalism is gravely mistaken.