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Garrett O'Hara
"Bush is Hitler" vs. "Move to Iraq": An issue of patriotism.
03/22/2003
Observe some on the right. In fact, one good friend of mine just had an encounter with some of them. As a fan of country music, she had written the local country music station in town regarding their boycott of the Dixie Chicks after one of them had pronounced an anti-Bush stance. The letter claimed that the boycott was hypocritical considering that anti-Clinton statements never met criticism. Apparently, the radio host had decided on "ranting for 20 minutes" (in the words of my friend) criticizing the letter. Callers replied insisting that my friend should "move to Iraq" among other insults. I have read the letter. It was wrongheaded, but by no means unpatriotic. How Mr. "Move to Iraq" could call himself patriotic is beyond me.
Now observe some on the left. I suggest that everybody head to Brain-Terminal if you haven't seen any examples of this. Countless anti-war protesters in large cities have insisted upon equating President Bush with Adolf Hitler. Their signs usually depict the President with a Hitleresque mustache. Also interesting is the way in which protesters on the left insist on using bad language, lewdness, name-calling, etc. in order to get their point across without having the ability to defend their side in normal, civilized debate. Disagreement with Bush's war stance may be wrongheaded, but it is not unpatriotic. Comparing Bush to Hitler, however, is a different story.
Namecalling, bad language, and insistence upon leaving the country for mere opinion lacks true intelligence. If either side is going to make any progress in actual productive discussion, the unpatriotic on both sides need to, in the words of Brain-Terminal's Evan Coyne Maloney, "realize that mere disagreement does not make one evil."
| Copyright 2003 Garrett O'Hara | All worldwide rights reserved |
