I Fear My Own Government More Than The Terrorists
Paul Walfield
Those are the words and thoughts of Jill Nelson, “journalist, teacher and author. She is a regular contributor to MSNBC.com.” After reading her May 2, 2003, editorial, it’s no wonder she fears America more than al-Qaida or the Taliban, she hates the country as much as the terrorists, and as they say, “the enemy of my enemy…” Here we have all that is wrong with America. An American teacher, journalist and author who can speak her mind on a website visited by millions, explaining her dread at having a government that is willing to fight for her right to speak her mind.
Jill speaks of the “mean spirited” nature of America. That America stood up to despots and tyrants and fought terrorists and evil-doers with weapons. She discounts the monsters that flew jetliners into buildings slaughtering thousands of her fellow countrymen (persons) and speaks of the casualties in the war against Iraq as indicative of America’s callousness and the loss of “priceless antiquities,” as merely a casualty of America’s search for world domination and Iraq’s oil. “Now, the armed forces in Iraq have turned to shooting Iraqi demonstrators, the very people they supposedly came to ‘liberate’ with democracy.” Jill refuses to believe the American warriors on the ground who said they were acting in self defense. That Iraqis with AK-47’s were in the crowd of demonstrators firing on the Americans, Jill prefers the enemies of America’s accounts of the fight, and Jill doesn’t mention the 7 Americans severely wounded by the peaceful “Iraqi demonstrators.”
Jill and her despicable notions about America, and her absurd notions of moral equivalency of the Taliban as being a better alternative to the America that millions have given the ultimate sacrifice for, is indicative of an America that has forgotten how to teach our citizens. An American education system that demands Americans see their country as no better a place to live than a totalitarian island off the coast of Florida.
People who are born and raised in this country have, as a matter of natural sentiment, a kinship with fellow Americans and an affinity for allegiance to their country of birth. It is basically one of the few things we all have in common when we start out as American citizens by birth. Some, as of late, have been bucking the tide and find it desirable and even fashionable to damn America in some circles. Often those circles are far removed from mainstream America and the presenter of enmity is not subject to the multitude voices left in outrage.
There are some exceptions. The Dixie Chicks, Susan Sarandon have felt some ramifications for their “dissent.” Of course, the Left also reported that any supposed backlash was short-lived and in any event, ineffective.
In the case of Jill Nelson, she knows that the American government is in no way on a par with terrorists. She knows that if the terrorists were in charge and she wrote a piece about them the way she did America, she would be toast. So why the nonsense? It could be to make a point, it could be to endear herself to the Europeans and the Left-wingers right here and it could be that she really hates America. So why does she stay here? Because like all so-called dissenters and people who hate-America first, she knows nowhere else on the planet could she do what she is doing and still make a living.
What is most disturbing though is MSNBC publishing the article. This was no ordinary voice against the war in Iraq. This was an attack on America itself, couched in an anti-Bush cloak. MSNBC even supplied and published a distorted photograph of President Bush depicted as a grotesque monster on top of the article. The network co-owned by both Microsoft and NBC was thought of as mainstream; that is no longer the case.
Jill explains, “I live in an America that makes my stomach hurt and fills me with terror. A nation run by greedy, frightened, violent bullies.” Let’s take her beliefs one at a time. Her stomach hurts living in America. The response to that one is too easy. She is filled with “terror” because America fought back against terrorists and dictators. That one too is way too easy and telling her that her that she might understand what terror really was if she did live under the Taliban or Saddam seems excessively obvious for her to have missed.
She views the American government as “greedy.” Probably because she wants her readers to believe that America went to war in Afghanistan for an oil pipeline and in Iraq for the oil. First, it is obviously not true, at least to people who want to believe reality is actual events, and if it were true, is it possible that America and the world would be a better place in the future if America had that access, rather than despots and murderers? If you love America, if you are an American the benefit of the doubt goes to America.
She says our administration was frightened. Who in America was not frightened by the terrorists after 9-11? Perhaps the folks who were not frightened are the ones we should all be frightened of. As far as being a “bully” is concerned, calling defensive actions, bullying, is the last refuge of an enemy.
If you are not an American, if you just live here, America’s interests are secondary to others. America’s status, well being and sovereignty is subordinated to others. The so-called dissenters and “patriots” are no better than the French and in some cases, hearkens visions of Nikita Khrushchev at the United Nations, banging the table with his shoe saying, “We will bury you.”
