Robert Webb
April 4, 2006 03:23 AM PDT
Our "Founding Fathers" were branded "traitors" by King
George III of England during the Revolutionary war as "enemies
of the Crown". They risked life, limb, and all worldly goods to give
us our Constitution. "If we don't hang together, we will all hang
separately" and "Give me liberty or give me death!" were the catch-
phrases of the time. Our rights and our freedoms have been defended
throughout our 229 years since July 4th, 1776, by the blood and lives
of millions of American "PATRIOTS".
Our history is dotted with periods of civil disobedience and political activism, including a great Civil War, which ended the legality of owning
another human being-or slaves.Women like Susan B. Anthony-whom we
honor with a dollar coin-fought for and received their enfranchisement and equal right to vote along with former slaves. WW1 was fought against those
who sought empire and enslavement, culminating in the formation of the
fore-runner of the United Nations-the League of Nations-by Virginia-born
President Wilson. WW2 barely defeated a political ideology which espoused
a "master race" and a totalitarian political system which forbade debate,
independent thought, or even the common freedoms that we, as Americans take for granted every day.
In defense of this glorious ideal we call FREEDOM, we fought wars in
Korea, Viet Nam, and Iraq (Desert Storm-or the 1st Gulf war). There are those of us, including myself, who hold adamant political opinions, and have
been diametrically opposed to the current War in Iraq from the onset.
Does this mean all who oppose this President's policies are "traitors"-or
"irresponsible"-or don't love this country? I must answer with a resounding
NO!
In high school, as a member of the "Young Democrats", I opposed the war in Viet Nam on the grounds that I couldn't see how a little nation-engulfed in civil war-could possibly be a threat to us. It turns out, and is documented that the U.S. was never attacked as alleged in the "Gulf of Tonkin Resolution" sponsored by Senator J. William Fulbright, overwhelmingly passed by Congress, and signed into a law which sent
over 58,000 of our bravest soldiers to their deaths. Were the dissidents who
protested this war-or even went to Canada "traitors"? It was a decision "of
the heart". I chose, along with thousands of others, to serve, to answer my country's call and enlist in the Army. I never regretted this decision, although
vehemently opposed to the war!
To those who would chastise, penalize, or otherwise punish someone for
their political views or agenda--I say LET FREEDOM RING!! Whenever
we stifle free thought-or free speech-or free press-or punish those with views
out of the current "mainstream", we send the wrong message. Our nation
was founded by protest. Without "protest" we'd still be a colony of England,
slavery would still be the "law of the land", women couldn't vote-or even own property-along with all the ex-slaves and their heirs, there would be no such thing as "civil rights"! We dishonor and defame every brave soldier who bled to give us the rights we cherish today, when we punish or erase the
very ideals they defended-to the DEATH! Again, I shout LET FREEDOM RING!!
This "elective war" Mr. Bush chose to engage us in has deeply divided our nation[coming from a man who ran on a "uniter--not a divider" platform] and after listening to Mr. Bennish's lecture I thought that he did precisely what a real teacher is supposed to do, not just reading from a lesson guide but provoking intelligent queries and indepth analysis of our often complex and "under the radar" cloak and dagger activities that our government promulgates. In other words everything that is perceived is not necessarily real. To put it another way, nothing is axiomatic or written in stone. This teacher may be a bit ahead of his time for most, but I understand where he was headed with his critique of American policies. Though not representative of "mainstream" lock-step Bushites, he certainly nailed down the imperative that free thought must be allowed to be just that--FREE...or we will cease to be a democracy.
I have studied the Third Reich for 40 years and I must say that I too see parallels between the two pricipals at work here. We should never fear debate for when our mouths are shut this is where tyranny begins.
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Liberalism IS a mental disorder.