Anti-American...... or the road to Totalitarianism?
Sunday, 19. October 2008, 04:26:11
We've been hearing for months the charges against Barrack Obama, that he is anti-American. They try to use any reason they can to level these charges, from respected educator and former radical Bill Ayers to the Reverend Wright. Senator Obama has denounced the actions of both these men.
But that's not what this article is about. It's about the frightening direction our country is going. They are related, but actually started 7 years ago.
On October 17th Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) suggested that the media should investigate members of Congress to determine if they hold anti-American views. "What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would," Bachmann said. "I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America. I think people would be -- would love to see an expose like that."
Scary words, if you're familiar with the late Senator Joe McCarthy or the House Committee on Un-American Activities 1938-1975.
Sen. McCarthy was noted for making claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers inside the federal government and elsewhere. Ultimately, McCarthy's tactics and his inability to substantiate his claims led to his being discredited and censured by the United States Senate. Today the term McCarthyism is used more generally to describe demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents. Sounds like that term could be used on several Republicans of late.
Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) defending Sarah Palin recently on Face The Nation: Well, he [Obama] has talked down about America. You know, we’ve always had this history of saying, “Well, you know, politics ends at the water’s edge.” It didn’t for Barack Obama. He’s been critical not only of the President but of American policy and hence has kind of a negative view of America in the world.
She is basically saying that any criticism of "American Policy" is unpatriotic. The last time I checked the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guaranteed our rights to Freedom Of Speech. This gives us the right to criticize American policies, as well as our leaders. We have a responsibility to Democracy, to not give up that right. What Representatives Bachmann and Wilson imply, which is in line with what Senator McCain & Governor Palin seem to believe, is that to question the policies and motives of our government is un-American.
Ideas like that, left unchecked is what will lead to totalitarianism. There is no end to the tricks by which people can be exhorted in the name of liberty to give up their liberty. There is a long list in history that in totalitarian states liberty has been suppressed in the name of liberty. We have already allowed, in the guise of the war on terrorism, the current administration to limit some of our liberties. And we have seen the government abuse the revised laws even further, such as in spying on American citizens without cause or warrants.
Charles Dickens stated: "The heaviest blow ever dealt at liberty will be dealt by this country [America], in the failure of its example to the earth."
The use of the term [anti-american] within the U.S. has parallels with methods employed by totalitarian states or military dictatorships. For example, in the old Soviet Union, the Kremlin condemned as "anti-Soviet" in order to suppress dissident or critical thought. That's a natural usage among people with deeply rooted totalitarian instincts, which identify state policy with the society, the people, the culture. In contrast, people with even the slightest concept of democracy treat such notions with ridicule and contempt.
We must be careful that we do not forget history, or we may be doomed to repeat it. In 1798 the Alien and Sedition Acts became law. Proponents claimed the acts were designed to protect the United States from alien citizens of enemy powers and to stop seditious attacks from weakening the government. The opponents, like later historians, attacked them as being both unconstitutional and designed to stifle criticism of the administration.
Twenty-five people, primarily prominent newspaper editors such as Benjamin Franklin's grandson Benjamin Franklin Bache but also Congressman Matthew Lyon, were arrested. Of them, eleven were tried, Bache died awaiting trial, and ten were convicted of sedition.
One act — the Alien Enemies Act — is still in force in 2008, and has frequently been enforced in wartime. The others expired or were repealed by 1802. Thomas Jefferson, who won the 1800 election, held them all to be unconstitutional and void, then pardoned and ordered the release of all who had been convicted of violating them. Over the following years, Congress repeatedly apologized for, or voted recompense to victims of, the enforcement of the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Are Rep. Bachmann and Wilson intending that we charge Sen. Obama, and other congressman with sedition for voting against the Iraq war? Or for voting for a timeline? Would the news organizations be next on their list?
A final word:
The Greek philosopher Socrates said, "patriotism does not require one to agree with everything that his country does and [patriotism] would actually promote analytical questioning in a quest to make the country the best it possibly can be.”
One Man's Opinion
But that's not what this article is about. It's about the frightening direction our country is going. They are related, but actually started 7 years ago.
On October 17th Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) suggested that the media should investigate members of Congress to determine if they hold anti-American views. "What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would," Bachmann said. "I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America. I think people would be -- would love to see an expose like that."
Scary words, if you're familiar with the late Senator Joe McCarthy or the House Committee on Un-American Activities 1938-1975.
Sen. McCarthy was noted for making claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers inside the federal government and elsewhere. Ultimately, McCarthy's tactics and his inability to substantiate his claims led to his being discredited and censured by the United States Senate. Today the term McCarthyism is used more generally to describe demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents. Sounds like that term could be used on several Republicans of late.
Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) defending Sarah Palin recently on Face The Nation: Well, he [Obama] has talked down about America. You know, we’ve always had this history of saying, “Well, you know, politics ends at the water’s edge.” It didn’t for Barack Obama. He’s been critical not only of the President but of American policy and hence has kind of a negative view of America in the world.
She is basically saying that any criticism of "American Policy" is unpatriotic. The last time I checked the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guaranteed our rights to Freedom Of Speech. This gives us the right to criticize American policies, as well as our leaders. We have a responsibility to Democracy, to not give up that right. What Representatives Bachmann and Wilson imply, which is in line with what Senator McCain & Governor Palin seem to believe, is that to question the policies and motives of our government is un-American.
Ideas like that, left unchecked is what will lead to totalitarianism. There is no end to the tricks by which people can be exhorted in the name of liberty to give up their liberty. There is a long list in history that in totalitarian states liberty has been suppressed in the name of liberty. We have already allowed, in the guise of the war on terrorism, the current administration to limit some of our liberties. And we have seen the government abuse the revised laws even further, such as in spying on American citizens without cause or warrants.
Charles Dickens stated: "The heaviest blow ever dealt at liberty will be dealt by this country [America], in the failure of its example to the earth."
The use of the term [anti-american] within the U.S. has parallels with methods employed by totalitarian states or military dictatorships. For example, in the old Soviet Union, the Kremlin condemned as "anti-Soviet" in order to suppress dissident or critical thought. That's a natural usage among people with deeply rooted totalitarian instincts, which identify state policy with the society, the people, the culture. In contrast, people with even the slightest concept of democracy treat such notions with ridicule and contempt.
We must be careful that we do not forget history, or we may be doomed to repeat it. In 1798 the Alien and Sedition Acts became law. Proponents claimed the acts were designed to protect the United States from alien citizens of enemy powers and to stop seditious attacks from weakening the government. The opponents, like later historians, attacked them as being both unconstitutional and designed to stifle criticism of the administration.
Twenty-five people, primarily prominent newspaper editors such as Benjamin Franklin's grandson Benjamin Franklin Bache but also Congressman Matthew Lyon, were arrested. Of them, eleven were tried, Bache died awaiting trial, and ten were convicted of sedition.
One act — the Alien Enemies Act — is still in force in 2008, and has frequently been enforced in wartime. The others expired or were repealed by 1802. Thomas Jefferson, who won the 1800 election, held them all to be unconstitutional and void, then pardoned and ordered the release of all who had been convicted of violating them. Over the following years, Congress repeatedly apologized for, or voted recompense to victims of, the enforcement of the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Are Rep. Bachmann and Wilson intending that we charge Sen. Obama, and other congressman with sedition for voting against the Iraq war? Or for voting for a timeline? Would the news organizations be next on their list?
A final word:
The Greek philosopher Socrates said, "patriotism does not require one to agree with everything that his country does and [patriotism] would actually promote analytical questioning in a quest to make the country the best it possibly can be.”
One Man's Opinion
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