Huffington Passed

It is quite sad, really.

I'd heard rumors that Ariana's celebrity blog The Huffington Post moderated comments and weeded out the majority of non-liberal viewpoints. I had the honor of experiencing that yesterday afternoon, but wanted to give them 24 hours just to be sure.

I'd read Norma Lear's "An American Mother Loses Her Son" and was in the comments when I read a particularly ignorant comparison by Huff Post commentor "Karen."

It read:

"I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." -- Voltaire

I believe in these words.

The Right Wing in this country has completely lost their reverence for these words and the basis of the founding of our country. They slur and revile anyone who doesn't agree with them as 'unpatriotic', and 'America haters'. Rush Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity, et al, ought to be ashamed of themselves. They are the antithesis of the spirit that founded this country. If they were alive in 1776, they would be in Red Coats, fighting for King George (how apt) because, after all, he was for 'Preserving our Heritage and Our way of Life'. That is, British.

Cindy Sheehan is the embodiment of our American Heritage: the protester, the lonely voice in the wilderness that says, "NO!!" to the government, the policy-makers, the powers-that-be. Our country has a long, wonderful history of nay-sayers who defy, reject, protest and scream, "No more!!", whether it's Civil Rights for blacks voting rights for women, working rights for all labor...and now we have the most venal, lying contemptuous people in the White House that we have seen in a long, long time (Nixon comes to mind) and she's calling them out. Well done.

Posted by: Karen at August 11, 2005 11:13 PM

To this steaming pile I responded:

Actually Karen, it was the Tories then, like liberals now, that advocated not rocking the boat, and were in favor of leaving the despotic governments in Baghdad and London in charge, no matter the abuses were suffered by a captive people. Then as now, the do-nothings, the appeasers, were charlatans mired in fear of changing the present, and incapable of envisioning a better future. Scared of change, they—you—are trapped to wallow in your insecurities.

It was the revolutionaries then, and the Republicans and many conservative Democrats (including former President Clinton) now that saw that the yolk of tyranny was unacceptable, and that an uncertain war for freedom was better than to live as a slave under an iron hand.

George W. Bush has many faults as all people do, but a lack of vision is not one of his flaws. His vision of bringing democracy to a region written off for decades by the “elite” as too backwards for progress, is no less revolutionary and radical that the decision of a brave few in 13 colonies to strike out on their own uncertain path to bring forth a new government. Very few gave those brave souls a chance 200 plus years ago, and yet they persevered, and brought for a new nation that became the greatest this world has ever known.

Blood was spill in that war and many battles were lost, but those who believed in democracy were not deterred. They fought back against the tyranny. They did not listen to their detractors scared of change. They fought the battle all the way through, and in the end they were victorious.

You are here today enjoying your American freedom because the brave souls of that time period did not fold at the first drop of blood, nor at the first defeat, or the second, or even the tenth. The British terrorized us, burning homes and farms and killing livestock. Tories of the time—then as now, typically coastal urban “elites”—sued to quit and give into the tyranny, much as you do today.

If we listened to them—you—we would not be Americans.

For all his faults, George W. Bush knows that this war will not be easy, and that freedom is not easily won. We will not tire, as you have. We will not falter, though you have surrendered. We will not fail, as the future of 100 million people in the region hangs in the balance. We will place a steadying hand upon the torch of freedom until the Iraqis are ready to carry it on their own.

You, however, would anoint a bereaved Judas as the leader of your headlong retreat, and you will go alone. America will stay, and because of the sacrifices made upon the alter of freedom by Americans, Iraqis and our allies, a new “noble experiment” may hopefully soon arise in the Middle East.

Americans are proud of their history, and proud of our freedoms won by roughly ten percent of our population.

Families proudly proclaim an ancestry to heroes that fought in our founding war. Two hundred years have passed, and no American today proudly proclaims that their ancestors were among the Tories siding with the tyranny of the British crown.

Iraqis may hope to look back at our time from 2205, and count among them their brave ancestors who joined the Iraqi army and police to win their freedom from the terrorists and Tories within their midst. None will admit to have relatives that fought for the insurgency and for despotism. None will look back favorably to those of you in this country who would have given up on their freedom.

Americans will proudly remember that their ancestors fought to free a foreign people and spread freedom to newfound friends.

The liberals of our time will fade into the mists of time as a memory, like their Tory brethren before them.

You will not be missed.

I had a feeling the comment would hit a little too close to home for the Huff Puffers to print, and so I save a copy of my comment right before I posted it.

I guess I was right.