"Hate America" Rant

I didn't intend on this being my next rant. It just jumped out at me this morning. My next rant was going to be the woeful state of educators in America. Before I get angry emails about that, it's not what you think. Well, not entirely. So please hold off on burning me in effigy over a topic I haven't written yet. Today's topic is the implicit hate of Americans by American liberals. This is what set me off:

I removed the user name and picture, but it's from a Facebook friend who has jumped into the college liberalism pool with both feet.

Let me point out a few things:

1) This is from Al Jazeera. For those of you who've been living under a rock for 10 years, Al Jazeera is the "news" outlet that airs the videos of Al Qaeda killing Americans and other Westerners, often showing the actual decapitations. It's the station Usama bin Laden uses to air his own death-to-America rants. To me, it's the propaganda arm of the terrorists. [Warning, invocation of Godwin's Law] Joseph Goebbels would be proud.

2) I did not read the article. I refuse to give the website my traffic. Based on the poster's comments, we can all infer what's said.

3a) The poster's comments: "Sickening. Disturbing" - well, that's my reaction, but I have a feeling it's for a completely different reason.

3b) "Is this really our country?" - hey, some critical questioning, the type of thing we're supposed to be teaching our college students. Maybe this isn't going to be so bad.

3c) "How shameful...what can we we do about it?" - Well, ignore (3a) and (3b). This gem of our education system has completely bought into the propaganda they're selling.

Let me offer the real critical eye the poster should have. I'm not going to harp on the fact that this is Al Jazeera. That should speak for itself.

First, the title and subheading of the article "People and Power - White Power USA: Is the US heading toward a future of racial tolerance or racially motivated violence?" It's not exactly an original question, but journalism doesn't give points for creativity. (Wait, it does? Oh, well not many here, then.) It's worth looking at every once in a while at least. After all, the only people even allowed to vote in America are white people. Wait, you mean we let non-whites share power by voting? Well, at least non-whites are legally barred from public office. They're not? Well, at least we'd never elect a non-white person to a position of real power, just some mayors, maybe state representatives. What do you mean the current President of the United States is African-American? Who let that happen? America has had stolen elections before (1824, 1876), this had to be one of them, right? If you count winning by 10 million votes stolen, sure. President Barack Hussein Obama, an African-American with a Muslim name, was elected President of the United States of America less than eight years after 18 Muslim men flew three planes into symbols of America and were foiled in a fourth attempt. Man, we are a bunch of racist, white-power, violent thugs in this country.

There was a recent incident in Georgia where President Obama was hanged in effigy (that is, a model of Obama was hanged). The incident brings back memories of black Americans being lynched in the south during several eras of American history. It's a horrible chapter, and one that liberals will never let the country live down. Of course, this type of thing never happens to other political figures:

That's George W. Bush burning in effigy, Sarah Palin hanging in effigy, and the liberals' favorite meme, BusHitler. These are all in the spirit of the Golden Rule of Liberalism: OK for me, not for thee. In this case, we address the well-known corollary: only liberals can define what's offensive or racist. Hanging a Republican Presidential candidate in effigy - perfectly acceptable free speech. Burning a Republican President in effigy - perfectly acceptable free speech. Hanging a Democrat President in effigy - that's over the line. The argument is that because the act had a race-based history, that it's especially offensive. Well, I see that bet, and raise you Harry Reid vs. Trent Lott. (I chose a link for Harry Reid that was Reid-positive, by the way. That was intentional. Even so, the difference in reactions is huge.)

America isn't perfect, but let's compare American race-relations to everywhere else in the world. How about the intended audience of Al Jazeera? Let's do a quick Wikipedia search: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_World#Non-Arab_people_in_the_Arab_World. "In some cases this has led to severe conflicts . . . which sometimes amounted to denying the existence of or forcibly suppressing non-Arab minorities within their borders." That'll teach us to offer voting rights to our minority populations. When was the last time you heard about forcible suppression of rights in America? Maybe, this story will remind you.

I've already spent way too much time on this rant. Let me sum up. America is far from perfect. Our history is riddled with cases of oppression, mistreatment, and violence against groups for being different. We have made progress. It's not just the election of an African-American President (though I think that's evidence of progress). We have the freest country in the world, for everyone, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. It's perfectly justifiable to push for more freedoms and fight against the injustices that do remain. Criticism of America isn't hating America. Assuming the worst about America and agreeing with a foreign news outlet well known for their hatred of America? Well, you make the call.