Real Americans are Dissenters

The last few days have seen a genuinely ugliness in the tone of the Republican Party. Sarah Palin said in North Carolina how much she liked campaigning in the “pro-America” parts of the country. An odious Congresswoman from Minnesota suggested on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” that some members of Congress should be investigated for being un-American. The truth is America was founded by men who committed treason against George III. Real Americans are dissenters.

To people who question the patriotism of their opponents, America is about falling in line, conforming. Their national anthems are the tribal chants of “USA, USA!” and “We’re Number 1!” They believe as an article of faith that president is to be blindly trusted if he claims he is a conservative, and he must be impeached if he does not. Above all, they never ever doubt that America is the greatest country in the world in all respects.

These people are buffoons and fools who will gladly throw American liberty out the window in a desperate moment, as they did when the misnamed Patriot Act first raised its ugly head. Their personal identity is founded upon fear of the different, fear of outsiders, and fear of losing what they believe is a privileged position in the world. They are the intellectual and moral descendants of the original Ku Klux Klan, of the Know-Nothings, of the American Bund, of the McCarthyites, of the Dixiecrats, and of the segregationists.

America may be the greatest country in the world; one hasn’t visited the all of the others, so an empirical, first-hand decision is not possible. What one can say for certain is that America is not perfect. Nothing man-made can be. One can either accept the imperfections on the grounds that America is good enough, or one can be a true patriot and focus one’s resources and efforts on removing such imperfections as one can. The wise man will attest that it is better for America to be working toward an “A” than settling for a “C.” Or to paraphrase the old saw, “My country, right or change!”

It is quite possible to be a conservative and deliberately act in ways that harm America – President Bush has certainly done so. It is equally quite possible to be a liberal and deliberately act in ways that make America better. People who want to improve their country don’t hate it; logically, that idea just can’t fly.

The motto of this journal remains “If you have a blacklist, put me on it.”

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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