In September of 2001, just over 8 years ago, Bush said that
"Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
in what is a chilling replay of that line of reasoning, the DNC released this:
The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists — the Taliban and Hamas this morning — in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize. Republicans cheered when America failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace prize — an award he did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American can take great pride — unless of course you are the Republican Party. The 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at every turn. It’s no wonder only 20 percent of Americans admit to being Republicans anymore – it’s an embarrassing label to claim.
This needs to be examined. Not as a defense for the Republican Party (which indeed does support terrorism, but US terrorism not Taliban Terrorism), but in resisting these simplistic attacks that are designed to chill all dissent.
I was not around here at the time Bush said the original line, but even years afterward that line was attacked here, rightfully, for its simplistic and really dangerous line of reasoning.
It said this:
Bush Policies = America.
Oppose Bush, you Oppose America (and support its enemies that are killing Americans).
Now the DNC is saying essentially the same thing. It applies it to the Republican Party, but what of others? It is now saying:
Obama = America
Oppose Obama policies, and you oppose America and support its enemies.
So anyone, from any perspective, that is less than thrilled with Obama's policies, especially in regard to war and peace, is now to be labeled a Traitor to America.
This was an absolutely dreadful statement to make, and i hope they withdraw it quickly.
I do criticize Obama from the Left. You may not agree with my opposition to Obama's decision to keep troops in Iraq and send more to Afghanistan, but to say that everyone who questions this president is "unamerican" is just beyond the pale. Or for me to suggest that after making those choices, and this early in Obama's term, it just might make sense to award the peace prize to others who have worked so hard, who risk so much, who are nearly invisible to the world stage yet accomplish so much... to say that others might have been more deserving of the Peace Prize is now met with this extremist statement from the DNC.
This statement from the DNC is an attempt to go back to the "America Love it or Leave it" reactionary demagoguery of old. and to Dick Cheney/W. Bush idiocies, in a nice wrapper.
I will not stop criticizing Obama's policies when i disagree with them. Yet, i know Obama must be smarter than that statement that was put out by the DNC, and knows how extreme, illogical and hurtful it was. I expect their will be a retraction of some sort, and Obama will lead the way on this, to his credit.
The Republican Party is certainly worthy of our full condemnation for their support of war and terror. However, questioning Obama's policies is not in itself an act of treason.
UPDATE: Imagine if Martin Luther King had lived long enough to see Henry Kissinger win the Nobel Peace Prize. Do you think he would have praised the choice? Martin did not live long enough to see the horrors unleashed under Nixon/Kissinger, but he did see the terrible things Johnson did.
"The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today, my own government" he said in 1967.
Do you think he would have suggested that maybe Kissinger was not worthy of the prize, as many antiwar activists did? Can't be sure, but i can guess. But many people, many Americans, were in fact disgusted by that choice to award the prize to Kissinger. Was that anti-Americanism, too?
Yes, i do disagree with the reasons that Republicans are attacking this, but this statement was ill-considered.