Soapbox

Aaaagh!

Today is NOT a good day to piss me off.

I just turned off some idiot on my local radio show saying that she doesn’t underdtand all these liberals who don’t love America. Gosh, they should “stop whining and complaining,” about things that aren’t perfect, and if they don’t LIKE America then they should just leave!

I want to shake self-rightous middle-class, whitebread morons like this until their perfect teeth rattle. Here’s another person who can’t separate the freedom from the flag, the policy from the people and the ideals. There are only 2 crayolas in her box: black and white. Either you approve of everything the president does or you hate this country. No colors in between.

OK Ms. Conservative Worthington “my world is fine and that’s all that matters”, assuming we had anywhere to GO, lets look at your suggestion.

First of all, of course we love America! If we didn’t, we wouldn’t care that the constitution is in danger, our reputation in tatters and many citizens do not enjoy the basic benefits of a wealthy nation. If we didn’t believe in this country, we’d say “Hey- I have a job and a house and an SUV so… whatever.” (Oh wait- that’s sort of what you said, isn’t it? Hmmm.)

When the law of the land said that slavery was Ok, you think that those who felt it was wrong to buy and sell other human beings should have just moved to Canada, instead of trying to change things?

When 1/2 the population of this country (women) was another kind of property and denied the right to vote and have decent jobs, we should have put up or shut up?

When children were sent to work 10 and 12 hours days in mines and factories, those who thought it was wrong should have just left them there and headed for the border?

When workers were locked in their buildings in unsafe conditions (ala Triangle Shirtwaist factory and others) we should have just left instead of insisting on laws to protect them?

When black citizens were denied the right to vote, and sometimes beaten or killed if they tried to exercise that right, we should have just shrugged and hopped a plane?

When not just the air and water but even our children were being poisoned by industrial pollution, lead paint and DDT, we shouldn’t have insisted on the laws that now limit that and have made us all healthier? When uninspected meat-packing plants were poisioning us, we should have stopped whining and complaining and eaten our pot roast?

Well you had better thank your lucky stars that “we liberals” didn’t leave, or just imagine the stink-hole you’d be living in today!
The conservative arguement that we should just leave this country to wallow in its own ignorance, bad decisions and corruption instead of trying to make it better seems to be the very anthesis of patriotism. They are saying that a slave-owning, wife-beating, child-working, death factory is the best this country can be!

Wrong! That sounds more like a description of someplace like China, which, incidentally is one of places conservatives always tell liberals they should move to if they don’t like the US. But that’s the sort of place where you’d be living without dissenters, radicals, agitators and whiners like us keeping this country on its toes.

Your idea of “Put up or shut-up” is the most misguided, ignorant, counter-productive idea of patriotism ever. It’s akin to saying that if your child is messed up, hanging out with a bad crowd and engaging in dangerous, destructive behavior you shouldn’t try to change that behavior and set up new rules to get them on the right track again, because if you try to change them, you don’t love them.

It is patriotic to insist that your country and your leaders llive up to their potential and be all that they can, just as any parent would try to encourage the same for their child.

Instead of the blindly patriotic “America: love it or leave it” jingo-ism, I propose a new slogan.

“America. Love it? Then FIX it!”

Or in place of the “Proud to Be An American” bumperstickers, I’d like one that says
“Proud to be an American…embarassed about George Bush.”

And I’m tired of people telling me to stop whining, because I am WAAAY beyond whineing!