Sunday, October 5th, 2008
I write e-mails
Rep. Wilson,
I was shocked and appalled at your comments on Face the Nation this weekend. For committing the thoughtcrime of criticizing The Most Holy George W. Christ The Infallible, you essentially called the Democratic nominee for the office of President of the United States a traitor.
A traitor, Rep. Wilson. If I may be so bold as to paraphrase the late Joseph Welch, have you no sense of decency, ma’am, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
I don’t know what twisted notion of patriotism you adhere to, but it sure as heck isn’t mine. Nor, I would humbly suggest, is it Theodore Roosevelt’s. At the height of World War I, the former President had this to say about dissent in an op-ed in the Kansas City Star:
To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.
Tell me, Rep. Wilson, would YOU call the 26th President a traitor? Can you honestly say that? No? Then why the hell is it okay for you to casually fling around baseless charges of treason like a dog chewing up a sofa cushion?
I and those who think like me have spent the last eight years having our patriotism questioned at every single turn by fascist thugs like you, and I for one am sick and tired of it. Frankly, your remarks struck me as confirmation of what Hermann Goering once told his interrogator, Gustave Gilbert, as he faced a war crimes tribunal for his role in Hitler’s murderous regime:
Why, of course, the people don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.
[…]
[V]oice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.
Joseph Goebbels would be proud of you, Rep. Wilson.
Just a suggestion… More on the economy and less on the culture wars. The bailout mess, and yes, it is a mess, pushed the Presidential race to the 2nd page.
The economy is probably more relevant to people right now, and it’s something you can argue your side handles better.
Your brother,
Rich.
Comment by R.D. Baker — October 6, 2008 @ 4:03 am