Phony leftist indignation
Posted: April 1, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern <a href=worldnetdaily.com>WorldNetDaily.com
Saddam Hussein, though the object of widespread hatred, is certainly not without friends and supporters in the United States. Foremost among them would be those people marching in our major cities and university campuses who call themselves "anti-war activists."
Few comments draw quicker howls of righteous indignation than to call these so-called "anti-war" protestors "anti-American." To suggest that someone is anti-American falls somewhere on the outrage scale below an expression of an undying devotion to the musical talents of Barry Manilow.
OK, I like Barry Manilow's music. So there. I also think that most of the anti-war protestors are, indeed, anti-American. There. I've said it.
For you to attack my position here, and indeed for me to defend it, we have to establish just what I believe "America" to be. The concept of America goes far beyond territorial limits and the definition of an American is not covered solely by a birth certificate or an address. America is more than a territory or a geographical boundary. America is a society, a culture and a way of life.
America is an institution where the individual is sovereign and individuality is respected and admired. In America a person is free to follow his dreams, exploit his talents, go the extra mile and then sit back to enjoy the rewards of those efforts.
In America, justice occurs when a person gets what he deserves, not when he uses the power of government to plunder the wealth of another. In America, people admire self-sufficiency, not dependence; personal strength, not weakness; faith, not cynicism; and courage, not cowardice.
Americans prefer the chaos and uncertainty of economic and social freedom to the security of a paternalistic government. In America, the accumulation of wealth through hard work and good decision-making is admired, not reviled. Accomplishment is rewarded, not penalized.
Americans believe in freedom, and are willing to sacrifice their fortunes and their very lives to protect that freedom – and to bestow the blessings of freedom upon those who live in horrendous tyranny under a brutal and dangerous dictator.
As I see it, then these appeasement protestors are, for the most, par anti-American.
Watch them. Listen to them. Read their signs. These are people who revel in collective, not individual action. They show no talent for independent thought. They chant their trite slogans like sheep bleating in a tightly packed flock. They carry their mass-produced signs showing the mindless graffiti of the left. Like any herd animal, if you separate one from the flock you'll find them ripe for the intellectual kill. Separated from the collective support mechanism of the protesting mobocracy, they quickly exhibit their complete lack of knowledge and their aversion to the hated practice of logical thinking.
"No war for oil," they bleat.
You ask, "If we wanted to fight a war for oil why wouldn't we just go to Venezuela? It's so much closer and the people there are already fighting for a change!"
No answer – just that dumb slack-jawed stare of a leftist in headlights.
"Give peace a chance!"
"Peace? You mean the kind of peace where the children of dissident parents are kidnapped and returned with their eyes gouged out? The type of peace where those who speak ill of the great and wonderful dictator of Iraq have their tongues cut out and are hung from lampposts in Baghdad to bleed to death? Is that the kind of peace you're promoting?"
Though there are exceptions, they are few. The overwhelming majority of the so-called anti-war demonstrators in this country are leftists. The money that pays for the accoutrements of a good appeasement demonstration; the stages, sound systems, permit fees, security and medical facilities, come generally from leftist organizations, many with direct ties to Marxist and socialist organizations.
Many of these demonstrators are Democrats. They are driven by their hatred for George W. Bush and their bitterness over the loss of a close election. They fully realize that a sudden withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq would serve to preserve and strengthen Saddam Hussein and his Baathist goons, and would be a certain death sentence for tens of thousands of Shiites and Kurds seen as supportive of the coalition invasion.
On some level, they might actually care about the future of the Iraqi people, but on a higher level they care about returning leftists to their rightful position of power in Washington, a Democratic victory in 2004. They fantasize over a defeat of the Republicans more than victory over the Republican Guard.
So, spare me the formulaic indignation over the "anti-American" label. It fits all too well.
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