I’ve been following the “good liberal\/bad liberal<\/i>” thread with some interest (and not a little amusement) for a while, not only on this blog, but in the broader world of political commentary.<\/p>\n
First, let me suggest that it had definitely been a tactic of the Right to suggest that “love it or leave it” is the best policy, and that “love it” means “my country, right or wrong”, so sit back, shut up, and hang on. I’m sure that Joe, and even Trent, in more reflective moments will acknowledge that this is true.<\/p>\n
And to suggest that any criticism of U.S. policy is “objectively pro-(Soviet, Saddamite, or whatever)” isn’t the strongest basis for a healthy dialog. The fact that the Soviet Union was smart enough to support Martin Luther King through CPUSA operatives doesn’t in any way invalidate the Civil Rights movement.<\/p>\n
But…there is a definite lack of perspective on the part of much of the Left that I read and ly know. I think that that’s a bad thing, both because I think it leads to bad conclusions, and because it self-isolates the Left from the mainstream of American thought. When my friends – who freaking live<\/b> in Manhattan – explained to me after 9\/11 that “we had it coming”, or when my friends suggest that the sole reason for the disaster that is most Latin American politics is American foreign policy – or when they suggest that the sole cause of the crisis in the inner city is the continuing legacy of oppression and debt of slavery – with no acknowledgement of other historic inputs into the problems, or of the responsibility of the people affected themselves to do more – they aren’t making a lot of sense. I know two really bad parents. One is a couple that simply refuses to control their children; they love them totally, and so, they explain, they love everything they do. Unsurprisingly, they are raising two little monsters. The other is a single mother who explains that everything bad in her life is the fault of her child, and that everything he does is wrong. Unsurprisingly, her child is depressed, withdrawn and equally badly damaged.<\/p>\n I’ll define patriotism as “love of country.” Both the parents above (all three of them, actually) claim to \u2018love\u2019 their children. But to blindly smile and clean up when your child smashes plates on the floor is not an act of love. And blindly smiling and waving flags when your country does something wrong is not an act of patriotism.<\/p>\n But … there is a point where criticism, even offered in the guise of love, moves past the point of correction and to the point of destruction. It\u2019s a subtle line, but it exists. And my friend (who is less of a friend because I can’t begin to deal with her fundamentally abusive parenting) is destroying her child. And there are liberals who have adopted an uncritically critical view of America. Who believe it to have been founded in genocide and theft, made wealthy on slave labor and mercantilist expropriation, to be a destroyer of minorities, women, the environment and ultimately they argue, itself. <\/p>\n I’m sorry but their profession of love for America is as hollow to me as that mother\u2019s profession of love for her son. Are those things true? As facts, they are an incomplete account of this country\u2019s history. As a worldview, they are destructive and self-consuming.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I really can’t add much to that.<\/p>\n (edited for punctuation)<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Armed Liberal: I can’t abide “love it or leave it” patriotism. But…there is a definite lack of perspective on the part of much of the Left that I read and personally know. I think that’s a bad thing, both because it leads to bad conclusions, and because it self-isolates the Left from the mainstream of American thought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nI talked about this a while ago, and see no reason to change what I said then<\/a>:<\/p>\n