Let's Talk Patriotism

[dubyaD40web]

Let's Talk Patriotism
By Clyde
Thursday, August 31, 2006


For the last five years, the Republicans have participated in a whisper campaign questioning the patriotism of those on the left of the political spectrum. However, thanks to Rush Limbaugh, that whisper has now become a shout. Limbaugh is now openly questioning the patriotism of any American that does not support the continued occupation of Iraq by the United States. In true Republican fashion, Limbaugh has no clue as to what he has done.

Sensing the increasing desperation by the right wing in the run up to the mid-term elections, many of us on the left have been laying in wait for this attack to begin. If the Limbaughs, Hannitys, Coulters and O'Reillys of the world want to have this debate, then I say, "Bring It On." If truth is to be told, it is the Republicans who must defend their patriotism, not the Democrats. Whether it is foreign or domestic policy, the Bush Administration's efforts has made our nation more vulnerable and the Republican Rubber Stamp Congress has willingly gone along. The negative effects of these policies will be felt for generations to come, yet the right wing echo chamber acts as if everything is just hunky dory.

The invasion of Iraq has depleted both our monetary and military resources to their breaking point. While we are spending billions, of which 9 billion has yet to be found, to make Iraq more secure. Here at home, they cut the COPS program and have yet to secure our nation's ports, chemical plants and nuclear power plants. If you have a neighbor whose home is infested with cockroaches, would it not be prudent to secure your own home before you help the neighbor, in case the bugs decided your home is more appealing when the poison is dispersed? Although an analogy, this is the type of danger the so-called Republican patriotism has brought to our nation.
All we hear from the Republicans is how we have to fight them over there so we do not have to fight them here. The only problem is the "them" part. Just who exactly is "them," is it the Iraqi people we had to liberate from rape rooms and torture chambers or is it the terrorists who were not there to begin with? Why does the trial, sentencing and imminent execution of Saddam Hussein, for crimes against the people of Iraq, overshadow the capture of the man who masterminded the terror attacks on 9/11? Do the Iraqi people deserve justice before the American people do? I think not!

While we are spending billions propping up a new government that gives universal healthcare to its citizens, our citizens are paying the highest healthcare costs in history. While all Iraqis can receive medical care without worry, millions of Americans are scared to go to the doctor because of the inability to pay the premiums and co pays charged by insurance companies. Patriotically speaking, whose health is more important American or Iraqi?

While we are supposedly spending billions on the Iraqi public school system, our own is on the verge of collapse. Teachers are not being paid what they are worth, classroom sizes are growing exponentially and the unfunded mandate "No Child Left Behind" has virtually tied the hands of local school boards across the country. Whose education is more important to national security, American or Iraqi? By their actions, you would believe the Republicans to think it is the Iraqi.

Waving their purple fingers in the air, the Republicans strutted around proud as peacocks because the Iraqi people were able to vote. Yet when it comes to irregularities within our own voting system, their silence is deafening. Securing a democracy in Iraq does us no good if we allow our democracy to fail in the process. To me, the American right to vote outweighs the Iraqi right by far, yet the Republicans seem unconcerned. Which view is more patriotic?

Limbaugh asserts that the liberals want to lose the war in Iraq. How can we lose what was already won? The "war" was won in a few short weeks, hence the codpiece promenade on board the USS Abraham Lincoln. When Bush claimed victory, the war ended and the occupation began. That is the fight we are losing, through no fault of the men and women serving in the Armed Forces. The sectarian civil war being waged in Iraq is the result of the Republicans failure to plan for the peace.

Every American soldier killed since "Mission Accomplished" lands squarely on the shoulders of the Republican Party. Instead of helping, the Iraqi's rebuild their own country; the Republicans decided it was more important to award no-bid contracts to their corporate paymasters. There is an old saying that "idle hands are the Devil's workshop" and that is exactly what has happened in Iraq. By not allowing the Iraqi people to take ownership of their own rebuilding, the Republicans have created more terrorists that Osama bin Laden could ever dream of. It is only a matter of time before this country is attacked by a real Iraqi terrorist, but you watch, the Republicans will try to use it as justification for the failed policies they so fervently believe in.

What is so patriotic about weakening Medicare/Medicaid for nation's elderly and poor? What is patriotic about advocating the outsourcing of American manufacturing jobs to third world countries? What is patriotic about creating deficits for generations to come? What is patriotic about being in debt to China, Japan and Saudi Arabia? What is patriotic about pointing the finger of blame at the victims of Hurricane Katrina instead of helping rebuild? What is patriotic about sending our men and women in the Armed Forces to fight in Iraq 3, 4 or 5 times?

So in conclusion, I guess what I am saying to Limbaugh is to go ahead and question my patriotism because from now on I am going to talk about his treason!

http://www.dubyad40.com/html/clyde/clyde.html

Posted in full with permission.

[bowens43]

1. “Patriotism is a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy”

- George Bernard Shaw

[AX10]

2. K and R!