|
Am I "Anti-American"?
February 26, 2002
Am I "Anti-American"?
by Joe Sobran
 Liberals used to accuse me of being an extremist radical
right-wing superpatriotic cold warrior. I didn't exactly enjoy having
these labels slapped on me, (particularly by Mom), but at least I could
understand why some people used them. They were a caricature, which is to
say an exaggeration of real features.
Lately, though, I've been called some unflattering names by people I used
to think of as my fellow conservatives. One, a radio talk-show host, has
gone so far as to call me "anti-American."
How did I go from being superpatriotic to being anti-American, or even,
as some have called me, "treasonous"? I haven't joined the
Taliban, endorsed terrorism, waged war against the United States, taken
bribes from foreign governments, or sold sensitive military secrets to
Chinese or Russian spies. Wherein, then, have I offended?
That's easy. I haven't joined in the spirit of primitive patriotism that
is expected of us in wartime. In fact I deny that such patriotism
deserves to be honored as patriotism.
Discerning anthropologists have enumerated traits by which certain social
types may be recognized. You've seen the lists: "You may be a
redneck if ..."
In the same way, I think there are traits by which we can identify an
anti-American.
If, for example, you think the U.S. Government should abide by the
Constitution even during wartime, you are anti-American. If you think the
government should at least declare war before waging it, you are anti-
American. If you deprecate a war that hurts and kills innocent people
without achieving its stated goals, you are anti-American.
That's not all. If you judge your own country's government by the same
standards that you apply to other countries' governments, you are
anti-American. If you think America is not immune to the sins that have
often afflicted other countries, you are anti-American. If you think our
government has made us enemies we don't need, you are
anti-American.
If you think that even America's "good wars" -- the Civil War
and World War II -- had terribly tragic results for this country and the
world, you are anti-American.
America is an extension of Western civilization, one of whose deepest
principles is rationality. The Founders of the American Republic
established standards, embodied in the Constitution and explained in THE
FEDERALIST PAPERS, by which that Republic and its rulers should be
judged. They didn't expect automatic submission to the government; on the
contrary, they set down the grounds on which citizens should criticize
the government and, if necessary, remove its officers. A true patriot
would be a critic, not a serf, of the government.
This whole approach was in deliberate contrast to the principles of
absolute monarchism. A loyal American could judge his government wanting,
because the people, not their rulers, were sovereign. They would have no
sacred ruler set over them in the name of God and claiming divine
authority.
But this original sense of measure has been lost. To judge your
government by its own supposed criteria -- the specific and limited
powers named in the Constitution which our officials are sworn to uphold
-- is disloyalty and treason. Obey, or be damned!
This reversion to primitive authoritarianism would have shocked the
authors of the Constitution. But they are more alien to today's
"patriotism" than the Taliban. Today, they would be considered
anti-American.
Those men assumed that the Constitution would be a constant rein on the
Federal Government. It would be used to rebuke any attempted usurpation
of power -- and for a while, it was. But in times of war especially, the
Constitution has proved a frail instrument. During the Civil War, as Paul
Craig Roberts recently put it, Abraham Lincoln "exalted the Union
above the Constitution." Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt went
much further than Lincoln. All three are now honored as "great
presidents." Those who respected constitutional limitations are said
to have been "weak presidents." And George W. Bush is already
being praised, in some "conservative" quarters, as a
"great president."
The question of constitutionality rarely comes up, except in the feeble
and marginal whimpers of pseudo- constitutionalists such as the American
Civil Liberties Union, which actually favors socialist-style government
in most respects. No president has ever been removed for exceeding his
powers. President Bush doesn't even have to worry about that.
So if you consider the ruin of a noble experiment in limited government
"Americanism," just set me down as anti-American.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joe Sobran's Biography.
Untitled
|
|
