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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (133480)	8/20/2005 1:38:10 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793743

I can't bring myself to read much Chomsky, but the little bit that I've read seems to concentrate on American excesses, things that many, perhaps most of us, would condemn. His fundamental flaw seems to be excessive generalization, taking something true and making it into something false by characterizing it as universal when it is not. But then, he's a hard leftist. Nevertheless, you don't have to be a hard leftist to be troubled or even revulsed by the history of American foreign policy in places like El Salvador, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala. Not everybody approves of using the CIA to destabilize other governments and formulate coups. The worst thing is that, when these things happen, the government condemns the critics as mad, and then later, the truth comes out in places like the GWU National Security Archives, and it just reinforces cynicism and lack of trust. Personally, I put very little trust in any President, past, present, or future.

To: LindyBill who wrote (133480)	8/20/2005 2:58:22 PM
From: MrLucky	Respond to of 793743

If you don't like the Pledge of Allegiance; if you wouldn't be caught dead with an American Flag pin in you lapel; if you think hanging a flag out on the 4th of July is tacky; don't tell me about your "patriotism." Amigo, you left off "flag burning". Not a sign of patriotism IMO. Rather, a sign of if it feels good, do it.

To: LindyBill who wrote (133480)	8/20/2005 7:56:27 PM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793743

Patriotism is love of country. That's right. And people whose basic axiom is that "America is the root of all evil," the Chomskyites, for instance, don't. Bill, let me jump into this conversation with CB, just for a bit. Two questions. Do you have some sort of evidence that this is a fair summary of Chomsky's work? I haven't read it so genuinely don't know. But I know some folk who have and certainly don't have that impression. Second, if we take that attitude and disentangle it from Chomsky, can you offer some serious evidence that it is so widespread it is seriously something to worry about? I see very hard and very serious criticisms of American policies but the ones I read are in the interests of a different view of patriotism.