"Mr.
President, America has not dictated to other nations. We freed other nations
from dictators." - Mitt Romney (3rd debate)
As an
American, how does this quote make you feel? Righteous? Proud? Patriotic? Take
ten seconds and really ask yourself that question.
What does
it MEAN to love your country? Is it blind love? Does it mean you fixate on it
with grand mythological notions of perfection and a fierce resistance to any
suggestion that it has ever been wrong? That's the way a toddler loves his
mommy. It's 100% passion and 0% reason.
Instead
of a toddlers love for mommy, consider the love between a husband and wife on
their 50th wedding anniversary. How is that love different from the toddler's?
It's an informed
love. It's an intentional love. It's a love wrought from a very real and very
accurate understanding of who the other truly is as a person. It's seeing that
person's strengths and weaknesses, virtues and vices, successes and failures -
and through it all, coming away with the conclusion that you truly love this
person completely and totally; not just because fate dropped you in each
other's lap, but because you chose one another and cultivated that love for 50
years.
See the
difference?
Now I invite
you to do some reading. Google 'Salvador Allende' and 'Augusto Pinochet'. I'm
not posing as a professor, but in order for my point to make sense, you have to
know more than I can reasonably type in the time I devote to these little
blurbs.
When
you're done, google 'Somoza dynasty' and 'Contras'.
Want the
Cliff note version? If you insist:
Salvador
Allende was a Marxist. He was also the elected President of Chile in 1970,
following free, open, completely democratic elections. The people of Chile
chose him as their President through their own free will. He was ousted by a
military coup in 1973, led by General Augusto Pinochet, with funds from U.S.
taxpayers and logistic and military support from the CIA.
Pinochet
was a dictator, installed by the United States, in defiance of the free will of
the Chilean people who lived under his tyrannical rule until 1990.
I repeat:
A military dictatorship, installed by the United States, in complete
disregard for the sovereignty of the Chilean people and the democratic process.
The
Somoza dynasty was a hereditary dictatorship that ruled Nicaragua from 1936 to
1979. They were overthrown by a revolutionary movement named after Augusto
Cesar Sandino. He was a guy who fought the early Somoza dictatorship and the
U.S. control of Nicaragua (by proxy) back in the 1920s.
The party
that was inspired by Sandino (the Sandinistas) took control of Nicaragua by
revolution in 1980. Over the next four years, while it struggled to get a
functional government together, it dealt with terrorist attacks from a group
that came to be known as the 'Contras' (translation of 'contra' = 'against').
Why do I
call them terrorists? I've made a few posts recently about the definition of
terrorism. The Contras routinely hit civilian targets for the explicit purpose
of creating fear. Innocent, non-military targets were blown up and shot up.
People were kidnapped, women were sexually mutilated, etc. . . .
Reagan
called the Contra's "Freedom Fighters" and used stooges like Ollie
North to organize the sale of American weaponry to Iran (our enemy, then and
now) in order to raise funds outside the view of your elected legislators,
and funnel that money to the terrorists in Nicaragua. The separation of powers
installed by our founding fathers in the US Constitution was pissed on. Your
voice in the form of your elected representation in the legislature was
silenced. Your money was funneled to terrorists without your approval. But I
digress . . .
For 4
years the Contras failed to unseat the revolutionary government. In 1984,
internationally monitored, free, open and fair elections were held in
Nicaragua. The Sandinista party faired well in the elections, though other
parties won seats as well. It was a legitimate election.
Despite
the irrefutable results of the democratic process, the Contras continued to
launch terrorist attacks against the UN recognized government, with U.S.
support, until 1989. Once again, the U.S. defied the will of the sovereign
people of a foreign land because they elected leadership that did not favor the
economic welfare of the ultra-rich in America. They tried, but they failed.
Democracy has won in Nicaragua (so far), not because of America, but in spite
of it.
That's
enough history for now, but please consider reading up on the following terms:
'Banana wars', 'Monroe Doctrine', 'Hawaiian statehood'. See if you can identify
any common foreign policy themes in your research.
How does
this little trip down foreign policy memory lane make you feel? Disgusted?
Ashamed? Violated? Does it make you feel anger towards me for insulting mommy?
Am I guilty of treason for not professing unabashed pride in absolutely
everything that my country has ever done?
How is it
possible, that someone who's view of his country is seemingly so negative, can
call himself a patriot? How can I claim to LOVE my country, if I am so willing
to speak candidly about it's transgressions?
Well a
little more history if I may. The following quote is from Senator Carl Schurz in
his remarks to the Senate in 1872:
"My
country; and my country is the great American Republic. My country, right or
wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."
My
country is not just flags and songs and baseball and fireworks and apple pie
and the Super Bowl and hot dogs. My country is the product of intelligence.
The great
philosophers and political thinkers like Locke, Hume, Bacon, Montesqieu and
Hobbes, inspired our forefathers. They lit the fire in the minds of men like
Thomas Paine, John Jay and Benjamin Franklin. These were thinking men, and they
seized the opportunity presented by history to take the wisdom of those
philosophers, which was just academic babbling at that point, and work them
into the creed of a new nation. A Constitution was formed that reflected
radical new ideas like popular sovereignty and a Bill of Rights.
This was
revolutionary shit and it was FUCKING BRILLIANT!!!!!
The
Republic that emerged from the rubble of the revolution and confederation was,
and still is, the most remarkable piece of collective reason in modern history.
This is what my country is, and I love it.
I am not
a toddler.
Just as
the old couple of 50 years is fully aware of one another's flaws, so too am I
aware of my country's flaws. Just as that old couple knows that at many times
over their marriage they have argued and done things they are not proud of, so
too I am fully cognizant of the fact that my country has, on many occasions,
done things I am not proud of.
And yet,
as you look at that couple sitting there at that anniversary party, surrounded
by children and grandchildren, they smile and hold each others hand. Each sees
in the other a whole and honest composition, complete with beauty and flaws all
rolled together to form one thing - a person that they love deeply and
completely.
This is
how I love my country. This is why I hold no punches when describing the
horrible things it has done. This is why I am passionate about describing how
it's power has been abused by deceptive charlatans who wave flags and thump
Bibles to lull my countrymen into misguided fervor and utter complacency.
"
. . . if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."
I want my
countrymen to be informed. I want them to know all the dirty little details. I
want to strip away the red, white and blue veneer so we can see what's rotten
underneath. This is the process of seeing what's 'wrong', so that we can
proceed on to 'set right'.
This is
truly elevated patriotism, and it's foundation is one of deep, meaningful love.
Now let's
get back to Governor Romney's quote. Here it is again:
"Mr.
President, America has not dictated to other nations. We freed other nations
from dictators."
I have
tried, in these few paragraphs, to give you all a few examples of American
foreign policy in action over the latter half of the 20th century. I have invited
you to do your own research. I've given some key phrases that you can look up
without any specific links to biased sources, so you can reach your own
conclusions on the topic in the privacy of your own mind, without my
overbearing voice demanding that you admit anything.
Based on
the information I've shared (which again, I encourage you to scrutinize) is
Governor Romney's statement true?
If it is
not, why is he saying it?
Does he
not know? Has no one ever told him? How can he suggest himself for the office
of the President if he does not know these things?
Well
friends, the truth is, he knows damn well that what he said is not true. He
knows damn well that we install dictators and exert the will of the economic
aristocracy all over the world. He knows damn well that American taxpayers have
been kept ignorant, while their tax dollars fund illegal wars. He knows damn
well that our volunteer military has been confiscated by the wealthy and sent
off to obscure little countries to risk their lives and limbs for commerce, all
under the guise of 'freedom'.
He knows
this because he IS the aristocracy. They are his investments, and the
investments of his echelon, that are threatened by popular uprisings and free,
fair elections in places like Nicaragua, Venezuela and Egypt. He wants to
perpetuate the lie that our presence abroad is all about 'freedom and
democracy' because he knows how those words make you feel.
Proud.
Righteous. Patriotic. Willing to fight!
He is
lying to appeal to the toddler. He does not want you to have the love of the
old couple, because that is a love that sometimes puts it's foot down and says,
"No!" That is a love that acknowledges what's 'wrong' and
endeavors to 'set right'.
Friends,
guys like Mitt Romney can't get anything done in THAT America.
He needs
toddler patriots who love mommy just because it's mommy. He needs people who
get teary eyed when they think of flags and songs and baseball and
fireworks and apple pie and the Super Bowl and hot dogs - but otherwise don't
know a damn thing about what their country does or why it does it.
He needs
to know that if a leader is elected in Peru or Namibia that threatens his
investments, he can start telling you tall tales about 'terror' and 'threats to
our freedom', and you'll line right up to go fight! This is why he spouts this
mockery of true patriotism. This is why he told you something that this
evidence and much, much more, shows to be a bold lie. (please keep researching!
don't take my word for it!)
I am
asking you now, not to be a toddler patriot. Do not allow yourself to think of
America as a beacon of righteousness that is beyond reproach. It may seem
virtuous at first but it absolutely is not.
I am
asking you to know the truth about how your country, which possesses all of the
necessary qualities to be amazingly good, has been set wrong by those who are
abusing it's will in the pursuit of money and monopolized power. You need to
know these things because your willingness to address those flaws is absolutely
necessary.
I am
asking you to see not just the lie itself, but the ultimate motive behind the
lie. See the whole construct. Think of it in historical perspective.
I am
asking you to reject those who seek to keep you in the dark, and who try to
dress up that ignorance as if it's something to be proud of. They do not
respect you. They do not care about you. They see you as capital, over which
they seek control. Fuck them.
I respect
you enough to think that you SHOULD KNOW the truth, so that we can all make
active, meaningful contributions to the process of setting right, that which
has been made wrong.
We ARE
this great American Republic. We have an obligation to ourselves, our posterity
and the rest of the world, to faithfully embody everything that we truly stand
for. This is patriotism and this is what I plant my flag in.
I hope you
see the virtue in that, and I hope you do the same.