Today I can only laugh when I see the popular portrayal of George Bush’s America n much of the international media. Supposedly serious commentators will say, without evident irony, that free speech is under attack, that Bush’s wiretapping, uantanamo-building, tourist-fingerprinting regime is terrifying Americans into quiet, desperate acquiescence in the country’s proliferating crimes.
The truth is that America not only harbours the most eloquent and noisy anti-Americans in its own breast, it provides a safe haven for people to come from all over the world to condemn it.
I added my own comment on the Times site to Baker's piece (and will put it in when it pops up):
[Two days later, my comment hasn't popped up on the Times piece. I assumed they just printed them after screening submissions. I said nothing foul or offensive. I wish I'd just copied it before I submitted the comment. Not that it was priceless wisdom you can't live without, mind you. But what are their criteria for rejecting comments?]
Really, though the cries of our Bushtatorship are constantly raised by our Left, our Left prospers while shoveling out the most vile anti-American drivel.
And right on cue, one of our finest Congresscritters representing that bastion of patriotism, Representative Pete Stark, proves Baker's point:
Stark, who's in his 18th term representing the liberal East Bay near San Francisco, took to the floor to accuse Republicans of funding the Iraq war but not children's health.
"You don't have money to fund the war or children," Stark declared. "But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement." ...
Instead of retraction or apology the statement Stark issued in response to Boehner just offered more criticism of the "chicken hawks in Congress who vote to deny children health care." Stark did also express respect for the troops.
It isn't enough to debate the insurance issue at hand and whether it really targets poor children or is dangerously close to simply covering middle class adults.
And it isn't enough--if he has to contrast spending priorities--to even note disagreement over the policy on Iraq. No, Stark has to insult the president in the coarsest and vilest terms. And when called on it, instead of reflecting that maybe he went a teensy bit too far, he ups the ante by attacking any supporter of the war who hasn't served in uniform.
And this is where those protests that it isn't "anti-American" to criticize foreign policy. That is true but not the point of Baker's article. And Stark is a conveniently timed proof. Not content to simply disagree with our nation's policy, Stark attacks the president and implicitly those who support him as bloodthirsty maniacs.
When President Clinton attacked Serbia in 1999, I opposed that war as a purely European problem that the Europeans should exert themselves to solve if it was so important to them. But I never, ever sided with the Serbs or felt we were immoral to fight the Serbs over their actions.
Is it too much for our "dissenters" to avoid demonizing their opponents as evil people who would betray us?
This Congressman is stark raving mad, is what he is. And his constituency on the Left loves him. They agree with every spittle-flecked comment.
And of course, they will not disappear in the night, never to be seen again.
Like I said, the European critics of my country are pikers compared to our dissenters. Hugo Chavez is a statesman by comparison to Stark and his ilk.
Stark has respect for the troops? Please. Jesse Macbeth ("Ranger" extraordinaire) is Stark's kind of troop. The rest? Not so much.
It's madness, people. The Left has gone off the deep end and I hope they wake up from their feverish hate with a little bit of shame over how they've acted these last several years. Tell me again how George W. Bush is the one who has polarized our country.
And to you Europeans who want to try your hand at condemning my country, don't even try to play the game unless you are ready to really compete against the best.
UPDATE: Feel the love:
Pete Stark says the president is waging the war in Iraq for the fun of seeing innocent Americans get their heads 'blown off,' but Democrats still support him. Keith Olbermann calls Stark's comments 'refreshing.' And Stark has been warmly embraced by the Daily Kos, where he thanked the site's readers for their support. But they all support the troops, right? Oh, and the children, too.
This hatred is appalling.
