So now I hate America

[ellid]

Or so this "distinguished gentleman" says.

I almost wish he'd come to Massachusetts so I can show him my father's WWII discharge papers, or tell him about my uncle Lou suffering from malaria and the effects of his war wounds till the day he died. I wish I could show him the genealogy proving my descent from Captain Evans Evans of the Continental Army. I wish he could see my photo albums, crammed with things like my mother's high school commencement program from a small, small town, or my own hard-earned and hard-won diplomas. I'd love to introduce him to the high school classmates who had to leave Pittsburgh because the jobs in the steel mills went overseas, or maybe show him my great-great uncle Christian's naturalization papers from the 1880s where he abjured his allegiance to the King of Bavaria and the Queen of England so he could come here and breathe free.

I vote every election. I salute the flag. I tear up when I hear the Star Spangled Banner played at a hockey game, and I sat in my church and sobbed on 9/11, wishing I were young enough and fit enough to enlist in the chaplains' corps.

I love my country, and it makes me physically sick that someone would dare to question this based solely on my party registration. Is this why Evan Evans risked being hanged? Why Lou had to be packed in ice to bring down the fever in North Africa? Why my father fought in the Battle of the Bulge? Why my ancestors from Wales and Ireland and Baden-Wurttemburg left everything behind to come here?

What is wrong with these people?

Comments

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

I'd like to check out his pedigree, he may well be a carpet bagger.

When people trot out crap like this it's because they have nothing else left. They know that if you try to smear someone's patriotism, it'll rile 'em up.

I hope the bastard's voted out of office.

I'm tired of being told I'm some left wing, godless, communist, America-hating whack job because I don't agree with Republican politicians.

In my head, they are the whack jobs because they aren't being true to either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution but trying to sell us their brand of fascism draped in a the flag.

I really hope there's a huge change in two weeks and a whole lot of old, fat, white guys find themselves out of a job.

[tree_and_leaf]

That really is vile - but if it's any consolation, I agree with ladyaelfwynn, it smacks of desperation. It isn't an excuse, though.

[nicolaa5.livejournal.com]

The only thing that's encouraging is that this time, people are starting to get disgusted with the venom some of these people are spewing.

My dad and mom were both lifelong Republicans of the old-fashioned, fiscally conservative stripe. Dad sometimes voted for local Democrats he knew and respected. There was never any sense of moral superiority or "I'm more patriotic than you" with them.

He did not vote in the last election, as he could not bring himself to vote for Bush. And he was absolutely disgusted by the continual mudslinging.

These so-called Republicans are going to find out shortly, I hope, that venom and vengeance only go so far.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

That sort of crap is backfiring for some of these idiots. We saw an article on one of them, some woman Republican who was criticizing Obama and saying nasty things has been losing in the pollings big-time. Backlash!

[busaikko]

Hmmm. I'm a liberal. I could be DAR if I wanted to be: my family's been in every American war since the Revolution. I'm registered in NC....

When people here (in Japan) get a bit wide-eyed at my criticisms of the US, I tell them that the *best* part of America is believing that it can always be improved; indeed, that every American has the responsibility to make the country better and not be complacent. There are plenty of places without that freedom. It would be a betrayal of my ancestors for me to let the US become one of those places. IMO.

[briony530.livejournal.com]

Wise person wrote in my LJ:

"We're ALL Americans, and it's all America. That's the strength of this country: from many, one. Those who claim that only small towns, or only people who worship a certain way, or only those of a certain skin color or ethnicity, are real Americans, are wrong."

Goes for loving America too! These attacks are dispicable. We need to reclaim our standing as 100% full-fledged, country-loving patriotic Americans. And the best way to do that is to staunchly carry our views and opinions openly...to the voting booth and everywhere else!

WE ARE AMERICA.