Ann Coulter calls it treason, Tammy Bruce calls it 'malignant narcissism' and liberals
call it patriotism. Call it what you will, but there is no denying the fact that
hating America has replaced race as the all determining reality for many Americans.
What would have been considered treason 40 years ago is now accepted as cutting
edge commentary. Democrats appear to be rooting for defeat in Iraq as a way to defeat
George Bush. Pundits routinely give terrorists the benefit of the doubt while excoriating
America. Hollywood stars denounce their homeland on foreign soil. Academics impute
a moral equivalence between terrorists and U.S. soldiers and calling the President
of the United States a liar is now a sure way to cement ones bona fide's in the
growing secular progressive community. And on and on it goes.
Shelby Steele, in his 2006 book, 'White Guilt', made the case that every
generation coming of age goes through a period of adolescent rebellion. Challenging
the powers that be is an important rite of passage and a valuable life lesson. Unfortunately,
the '60's baby boomer' generation that is currently in charge of most of our institutions,
staged their adolescent rebellion at the one time in history they had a chance of
winning the battle against the 'establishment.'
In the 60's, America had just acknowledged and apologized for the sin of slavery.
As Steele explains, "After America admitted to what was worst about itself, there
was not enough authority left to support what was best." As a result, the
baby boom generation is the first generation to win this adolescent rebellion against
its elders. Their "rite of passage to maturity was cut short and they were
falsely inflated instead of humbled." Sound familiar?
Couple America's loss of moral authority with the escalation of the Vietnam War
and voila, you have broadbased confirmation of America's inherent evil and oppressiveness.
This is the worldview that has now become reality to most Liberals, and through
them, to much of the rest of the world. Thank-you, baby boomers.
Having toppled the 'establishment,' liberals set out to restore America's moral
authority. To impose, unchallenged, their vision of what America could and should
be, unhampered by tradition, lessons of the past or any sense of humility. In short,
liberals set out to redefine reality, with a focus on 'social justice'.
Only one problem. Instead of establishing an earthly utopia, every solution they
imposed on America has failed. From the war on poverty to 'whole language' to abolishing
war to establishing equality of outcome to affirmative action. All the theories that
looked so fine on paper just didn't seem to work in the real world. Their Rousseauian
strategy of emphasis on passion instead of reason just didn't cut the mustard. No
wonder they're so angry.
Whitaker Chambers once said that the most important choice a man would ever make
would be the choice between man and God.
Having chosen man over God, liberals, secular progressives if you will, naturally
believe that any catastrophe, like Katrina, global warming, racism, etc., is man's
fault. Based on trendy liberal reasoning, only those with power can oppress. Thus
the blame for all the world's ills is placed right at the feet of America, the world's
only super power. It's all our fault. Looked at through the eyes of a liberal, it
makes a perverted kind of sense and offers one explanation for the unreasoning hatred
many liberals have for America.
It stands to reason if man is responsible for all these problems, then man should
be able to solve them. The inability of secular progressives to solve all the world's
problems is a direct challenge to their core beliefs. To acknowledge their inability
to achieve utopia on earth would invalidate a lifetime of passionately held beliefs.
Hence the desperate effort to place blame on someone human. Someone other than themselves.
Enter George Bush. The greatest threat of all to the worldview of secular progressives.
No wonder they hate him. He exemplifies personal responsibility over moral relativism.
He bases his opinions on reason, not emotion. He is a man of God and stands for
all the traditional values the SP's have worked so hard to replace. His rejection
of the Kyoto Treaty was a direct affront to the secular progressive's new religion
of environmentalism. The mere mention of George Bush in liberal circles is akin
to pushing a puppy's nose in his own mess.
By focusing on Bush hatred, liberals succeed in shifting the focus from their own
failed policies. Much the same way third world dictators do. (Having a common enemy
is a very powerful unifying factor.) By concentrating on all the real and imagined
failings of Bush and America, the liberals can stay in their cocoon, safe from examination
and analysis. This is called cognitive dissonance and is a cherished staple of secular
progressives in their quest to redefine reality. Reality is what they say it is.
End of debate. Sound familiar?
In our soundbite world, it's only natural to want easy answers to complex questions.
Understanding the phenomenon of anti-Americanism and Bush hatred doesn't lend itself
to an easy answer. But it is a subject that needs to be addressed and understood
before America is conquered from within.
Nancy Morgan is a writer and news editor for RightBias.com. She lives in South Carolina.