Tucson, Arizona Sunday, 13 October 2002
Dissent a tradition long-honored in American life
By Jason Carr
'Yet today in the public schools we teach our children to salute the flag, and this is our idea of instilling in them patriotism. And this so-called patriotism we mistake for citizenship; but if there is a stain on that flag it ought not to be honored, even if it is our flag.
"The true citizenship is to protect the flag from dishonor - to make it the emblem of a nation that is known to all nations as true and honest and honorable.
"And we should forever forget that old phrase - 'My country, right or wrong, my country!' "
Who said those words? Surely you can name this radical, anti-American writer who's obviously part of the "Blame America First" crowd?
Give up?
It was Mark Twain, back in 1907, in an interview about the Children's Theater in New York.
The "stain" to which Twain referred was the U.S. occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War.
Twain, other intellectuals and politicians would form the Anti-Imperialist League to oppose the grab for empire as inconsistent with the founding principles of the United States.
It really is little different from the motivation of many of the people opposing an invasion of Iraq.
Anti-war speakers, writers, advocates, demonstrators - with a few disappointing exceptions - have a deep and abiding love for the United States.
But their love runs deeper than a politician wearing a rhinestone pin or a football fan cheering as his team runs up the score on a weaker opponent.
The opposition to this war comes from an attachment to American values.
The values that say we do not commit unprovoked attacks, that freedom to dissent is central to a free society, that going to war is not a decision to be taken lightly or left to one man.
But that's not good enough for the superpatriots and the War Party (and here I say that Democrats and Republicans can both be found in the War Party, just as both can be found in the Anti-War Party).
To them, less than 100-percent, lock-step agreement with George W. Bush and going to war is cause to question patriotism and loyalty.
Anyone who advocates a course different from the madness of "pre-emptive strike" is called "anti-American."
In the vast majority of cases, the term is a lie. Just as much a lie as it is to say opposing slavery reparations or employment quotas is proof of racism.
Both charges ("anti-Americanism" and "racism") are designed to persuade others to refuse to listen to the accused and to intimidate the accused into silence.
Strange that a country whose very existence began as a massive act of dissent and defiance should have so many people so fearful of dissent.
* Jason Carr writes for the Midland Daily News, 124 S. McDonald St., MI 48640; e-mail: jasoncarr@mdn.net. |
