The key quote by Senator Biden:
“I hope it was just a slip on her part and she doesn’t really mean it. But she said, it was reported she said, that she likes to visit, ‘pro-American’ parts of the country,” he said to loud boos.
“It doesn’t matter where you live, we all love this country, and I hope it gets through. We all love this country,” he said. “We are one nation, under God, indivisible. We are all patriotic. We all love our country in every part of this nation! And I’m tired. I am tired, tired, tired, tired of the implications about patriotism.”
I love my country and I want to make it better. Too many people who support McCain and Palin apparently hate their country and all it stands for. They hate that it permits a black man to run for President. They hate that we have a free press, instead of one that simply spouts the views they wish to hear. They hate that African Americans get to vote. They hate that the laws require equal rights for all citizens, even those accused of crimes, even those with different skin colors or funny names or who speak foreign languages or who practice religions that don’t worship Jesus as the Son of God.
They hate free speech unless it agrees with what they want said. They hate other Americans who hold political views which contradict their own. They hate the Constitution which established these rights and set up an independent Judiciary to ensure that no one in government could violate those rights without being called to account for it. They hate anyone who criticizes them or the politicians of whom they approve while demanding the sole right to lie and defame the politicians of whom they disapprove.
In short, I find that the the America haters all too often belong to the Republican party, that they hate their fellow Americans and that they would prefer to see this country revert to a time when only certain people had any rights or freedoms at all, and the rest suffered from the injustices of prejudice, discrimination and the denial of essential liberties and rights, such as the right to a fair trial, and even in many instances the very right to live at all.
I don’t understand why they can call themselves Pro-American when all they want to do is tear down all the ideals upon which this country was founded and for which men and women of all races, colors and creeds have fought and died for over the last 200 some odd years. And yes, like Joe Biden, I’m sick of their hypocrisy, their mean spirited zealotry and their un-American behavior. If they want to live under a right wing fascist dictatorship I say there are lots to chose from around the globe. Let them move there, because this is America. And I love it enough to fight for the rights, freedoms and liberties it grants under law to all its people, not just a chosen few. If they can’t handle that maybe they should move to Alaska and join the Alaskan Independence Party which seeks to secede from the United States of America.
I’m sure Todd and Sarah Palin would be more than happy to welcome them.
Update [2008-10-18 14:25:48 by Steven D]: More video of Biden at Mesilla, New Mexico:
They all love this country…..and Obama.
via Wall St. Journal
And I bet no one called McCain a terrorist or suggested he should be murdered.
take a cursor over to Counterpunch –
Check this
Headliner on next Newsletter, (sub.req.)
That is way cool!
Coincidentally, I was in St. Louis just a couple months ago and took a picture from almost the exact opposite perspective (with fewer people, obviously). This photo was taken from that white building with the greenish dome (which I think is the old courthouse?) in the center-right of SN’s picture.
(click for a bigger version)
To paraphrase Chris Matthews: this give me a big tingle up my leg! 🙂
I was wondering what that shadow line through the middle of Sn’s picture was…d’oh. 🙂
Wow. Just…wow.
I think if the western states achieved their independence (and it’s not just Alaska, there are active movements in California, Texas, Hawaii and so on) you might be amazed at just how many people would prefer to live in those nations. There’s be a huge exodus in fact. I think people would also be amazed at how much more freedom and democracy they would enjoy there, at how much better human rights would be protected, at how much more money they would have after not having to waste money on America’s war machine and subsidize the people back east, and all the other benefits of freedom. Imagine actually having health care, for example. That’d be great.
There seems to be a perception that it’s right-wingers who are leading the independence movements, or maybe it’s just the liberal Democrats’ tendency to accuse anyone who disagrees with them to be right-wingers. On the contrary, it’s all kinds of people from all walks of life. You don’t hear much about it because the federal government has eliminated freedom of speech and has made discussion of freedom illegal. But the movements are growing. The main issues are the core American values of freedom, independence, democracy and self-determination, which, of course, any real American would strongly support. And, of course, there’s nothing more un-American than treating those with different opinions with contempt. I can’t wait until California is independent and I’m a very leftist progressive.
Steven, I don’t want to be argumentative or anything, but just out of curiosity, have you ever read the Declaration of Independence? You should check it out, there are some great ideas there.
If you’ve ever studied any history you know that ALL institutions fade away sooner or later. The old USA had a great run and did some great things in its time, but history moves on and people have to as well. It should be obvious that the federal government simply isn’t working any longer. The farther away you are from the NY-DC beltway the more obvious this is. And there is nothing more American than developing new ideas and institutions to meet the needs of changing times and values.
“…there is nothing more American than…“
There it all is in a nutshell. Just can’t get away from it, even when you think you are.
Sigh!
This is a wonderful country and it has done very well by me. Every so often I make noises about fleeing north, but this is my country. MY country. Why should I abandon it to these anti-American thugs?
Yes, they accuse Democrats of being anti-American, even as they engage in acts of jingoism and constitution-shredding that would make the jaw of the boldest 60s radical drop straight to the floor. They are projecting their hatred of core American values onto the Democrats, Eisenhower Republicans and anyone else who opposes them.
Who were those ’60s radicals anyway?
Pardon me, Senator Biden, but we are not all patriotic. Many of us are strongly opposed to patriotism. We eschew patriotism, and do not see it as a virtue, but a very dangerous emotion – illogical, unreasoning, and deeply narcissistic. As George Bernard Shaw pointed out, “Patrioism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.”
The connection between patriotism and war mongering is undeniable. In fact, the two form a vicious and very dangerous circle. Patriotism excuses war, and war breeds increasingly zealous patriotism.
“You’ll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race. George Bernard Shaw
“At the bottom of all patriotism is war: that is why I am no patriot. Jules Renard
“No other factor in history, not even religion, has produced so many wars as has the clash of national egotisms sanctified by the name of patriotism.” Preserved Smith
“Naturally the common people don’t want war . . . Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders . . . All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism.” Hermann Goering.
“That worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor . . . This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism-how passionately I hate them!” Albert Einstein
Senator Biden, you do not speak for me. I am a proud rejecter of patriotism in all its forms.
PS We do not all love this country. I do not love this country. I do not love any geo-political entity. I care about humanity, and I care about this planet. I am part of them, and I am loyal to doing what little bit I can in my life to protect their welfare while taking care of my own and that of the people and beings in my life. I find the requirement that people love and be loyal to a particular geo-political entity to be antithetical to the welfare of human beings and of the earth.
I resent that people are required to be patriotic in order to be considered worthy.
the way I mean it is: I love my home. This is my home, it’s where everyone I love lives. I don’t think of it as loving a geo-political entity.
I understand that, and see it as natural and normal. Who can criticize that – certainly not me. Most normal people feel that way, but that is not what patriotism – aka “love of country” – is generally understood to be.
I find the concept of love for and loyalty to country – historically virtually universally understood as love for and loyalty to the geopolitical entity in which one lives – to be very difficult to wrap my mind around. I also find it to be very dangerous.
Whenever the subject of patriotism comes up I’m always reminded of Sidney Harris’s thoughtful quote.
“The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.” — Sidney J. Harris
Any wild, crazed animal is at its most dangerous when it’s cornered and senses its own annihilation. Fair warning: expect the worst of the worst to come, and soon.
From their perspective, which is preferable — shutting down the election or shutting down the transition, post election before Obama takes office?