The author would like to predicate this column by noting that he is an avowed moderate and as such has no inherent bias towards or against liberals, just against stupidity.
Some time ago I was looking at the Opinions section of the local newspaper (that last bastion of idiocy for the bored senior citizen or opinionated housebody) and I noticed a letter in which the writer made several blatantly ignorant statements that reminded me of why it's so difficult to get even slightly enlightened ideas across anymore. Thus, I'd like to present part one of my new ongoing threepart series, The Three Reasons Why People Hate Liberalism And, By Association, How Conservatives Have Made The Word Liberal Reviled:
1. Liberals Hate America
The idea, as I understand it, is that liberals find fault with America for something that happens, so they must hate it. This is also the idea behind "liberals who like things foreigners do." The simple fact of the matter is that this is a gross distortion of the facts, at the very least. There are some who take it too far (those who blame America for the violence in the world by claiming it's the result of our imperalistic hegemony come to mind), but finding fault in the way things are doesn't inherently imply disgust with the ideals of America, just with a single specific practice within the country. That's the way we grow as a nation: by finding the things about our country we don't like and changing them for the better. The statement that claiming our country isn't as good as it could be is treasonous both insults the intelligence and betrays the foundations of the country (lest we forget, a Mr. Jefferson believed that a revolution every so many years was a necessity and good for the health of the nation). Along with this concept comes something that's come up lately in the presidential race. Michelle Obama stated that lately, she hasn't been too proud to be an American, a point the McCain campaign seized on and fed into its grist mill of spin: "I'm proud of America every day! I've always been proud to be an American!" and so on. If you've always been proud to be an American, then you either haven't been paying attention or you haven't done enough reading. Maybe it's just my bleeding-heart nature clouding my vision, but Indian massacres and Japanese internment camps don't exactly scream patriotism and liberty to me. Oddly, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo don't seem to be helping. Ignoring the faults and disgraces of your people is both ignorant and dangerous. As the old saying goes, those who forget their mistakes are destined to repeat them, and while for some the idea of rounding up all Arabs and marching them to Oklahoma seems like the perfect solution to a "grave problem," to me such a notion offends every aspect of my being.
Yet somehow, this idea has actually worked! It kind of falls in with the "if you don't support us, the terrorists win" idea in its use of jingoism to cloak xenophobia in the clothes of patriotism. There's one hell of a logical leap between not liking the monitoring of library lists and strapping on a bomb and running into a crowded marketplace screaming Ahallu Ackbar, and anyone with half a brain would make this as much of a wide, ugly ditch as Lessing and Kierkegaard made rational religious belief. Fortunately for conservatives, there's an easy way to circumvent logic, especially among the dimwitted: utilize fear and patriotism as twin tools. People against Halliburton? They're spreading liberty into the Middle East. My Lai massacre got you down? Those boys are fighting for our freedom so we don't have to fight tyranny and evil here. See how easy it is?
As I've mentioned, some self-titled liberals take it too far and do blame America for everything (consumer culture, moral breakdown, global violence, etc.) without placing fair blame where it's due. These people need to understand how their ill-guided extremism does just as much damage as the "We're Never Wrong" attitude does (though since these people are often pacifists, the physical damage is usually negligible). Importantly, though, most liberals wouldn't be crazy or stupid enough to push the thought to these extremes. The reasonable notion of placing blame where it's due and seeking to fix that which ails the country should be one of the guiding principles by which people determine what it is they want from their lives and their government. But most people are too buried in their flag pins and pledges to pull their heads out of the sand and listen.
What would Fox News do without them?
