Remembering what it means to be an American

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

From Capitol Hill Blue

The Rant
Remembering what it means to be an American
By DOUG THOMPSON
[ founder and publisher of CapitalHillBlue
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/ djf]
Feb 24, 2003, 06:59

I¹m an American: bred, born and raised in the home of the brave and land of
the free. 

I¹m also a patriot, having served my country more than once and in different
ways.
But I¹ve never thought that being an American and a patriot means I have to
support my country when I think it is wrong. A basic freedom granted to all
Americans gives each of us not only the the right to speak out against our
government, but makes it our duty to do so when we believe such dissent is
necessary.
Lately, however, too many people seem to have forgotten that freedom of
speech and expression is a primary American right.
Recently, hundreds of thousands of Americans took to the streets of cities
in this country to protest the upcoming war in Iraq ­ the largest antiwar
protests since Vietnam.
This upset the ³America right or wrong² crowd who said anybody who opposes
anything that comes out of Washington in these post-9/11 times must be a
traitor.
There¹s no doubt a wave of renewed American pride swept over this country in
the days, weeks and months following 9/11. You saw it on TV, heard it in
songs and expressed it by flying American flags on car antennas and in front
yards.
Unfortunately, the increase in American pride also brought a rise in
intolerance for differing point of view, for people whose skin color and
accents suggested a Middle Eastern ancestry and for those brave enough to
stand up against the tide and ask: Are we doing the right thing?
Suddenly, anyone who spoke out became a ³traitor² to America, someone who
aided and abetted the enemy. To oppose war, to speak out against the
government¹s policies, we were told, was anti-American.
I hate to break the news to these Johnny-come-lately patriots, but America
doesn¹t work that way.
Those brave souls who gathered in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of
Independence spoke out against their government and established the
principle that dissent was a basic right and freedom which should be
³self-evident.²
The issue is not whether or not we agree with those who march and call our
leaders murderers for leading this country into war. This is America. We
don¹t have to agree with them. And they don¹t have to agree with us.
Some of those who marched against the war a couple of weeks ago fought in
Vietnam or Desert Storm. Some won enough medals to fill a trophy case. They
didn't suddenly become sissies or cowards. They remained what they have
always been: Americans.
It doesn¹t take a lot of guts to stick a flag decal on your 4-wheel drive.
It does take guts to stand up and question the actions of your government in
these emotionally charged times. It takes guts to buck the crowd and say
³hey, maybe things are getting out of hand when we give up our rights to
privacy, our rights of probable cause and our protections against
unreasonable search and seizure in the name of a war against terrorism.²
There are some real questions which need to be asked and a growing number of
people are taking the risk to ask them.
Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, a hard-core, right-wing conservative,
has signed on with the American Civil Liberties Union to help fight what he
sees as unreasonable assaults on American freedoms under the increased
police state powers granted to the Department of Homeland Security under the
USA Patriot Act and other such legislation. So has former House Majority
Leader Dick Armey, another right-wing Republican.
Others joining the ACLU in its efforts to block this wholesale assault on
privacy and freedom include longtime Republican conservative activist
Phyllis Schlafly.
A few years ago, none of these three would have had anything to do with the
ACLU. In the 1988 Presidential election, George H.W. Bush, the current
President¹s father, called opponent Michael Dukakis a ³card carrying member
of the ACLU² as a badge of dangerous liberalism. Now the former President
stands down from public comment on his son¹s plans for war with Iraq or the
increasing police powers in the country. Close aides say he doesn¹t support
the actions. Other members of the elder Bush¹s cabinet have gone public with
their questions about the country¹s headlong rush to war.
So why are right-wingers joining with the lefties? I think it has something
to do with loving your country and putting that love above party politics
and blind loyalty to any elected leader.
"Yes, I'm a Republican, but I'm an American first," Barr told a reporter
when asked why he had joined the enemy.
"Some things are more important than politics," Armey said. "My loyalty to
my country comes before any loyalty to a President or a party."
America is a diverse country with more than 200 million Americans who come
from varied backgrounds, different philosophies and opposing beliefs. The
last Presidential election showed a country split right down the middle, a
contest so close it took the Supreme Court to decide the outcome.
Last year¹s mid-term elections, cited by Republicans as a mandate for their
policies, were much closer than the final results suggest. The key races
that decided the balance of power in both the House and Senate could have
gone either way with a swing of just one or two percentage points.
America¹s greatness is not determined by Republicans or Democrats,
conservatives or liberals. It is determined by all Americans of all
political persuasions, all beliefs and all feelings.
Patriotism doesn¹t wave a party flag.
Just an American one.

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