The "blame America first crowd"

I'm sure that members of the right wing would consider me part of what they love to call the "blame America first crowd," though I am not. I do not blame America that insane Islamists who believe that the sight of a woman's face or an afternoon at the cinema means that the West is evil and should be destroyed. I do not blame America that, as I write this, people are signing up to become suicide bombers. I do not blame America for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

But I do blame America for many things. I blame America for manipulating the global environment via the miitary-industrial complex. I blame America for invading Iraq and thereby causing massive death and destruction and creating more reasons for people to hate our country and want to attack us. I blame America for ignoring global environmental concerns. I blame America for trashing what was an imperfect, but pretty good, Constitution. And most of all, I blame America for fostering an environment in which thinking is considered a bad thing.

I have never understood the concept of patriotism, but that may be because one of my parents was from another country. I think that the U.S., for all its flaws, is way ahead of most other countries in the areas that matter to me (except, sadly, for animal rights), and I have to remind myself of that from time to time. But even with that distinction, the U.S. does not do very well in those areas--there is just more progress here than in most other places.

Despite my inability to understand tearful flag-waving, I think I am a good citizen. I obey the laws of my community, I vote, and I speak up when I see or hear about oppression and injustice. But that doesn't seem to be important anymore. Now, to be a "good citizen," it is necessary to go along, "support" the troops, respect the "president," invoke Christianity (or, more accurately, the popular perversion of it) at every turn, and assume that no one in the White House (other than Clinton) would ever do anything not in our interest. Most important, it is necessary that we not think, not seek facts, not call on historical precedent, and not call this administration by its name: an evil, corrupt, greedy, war-mongering oligarchy.

I do not blame America first. But I blame America plenty.