The following is a combination of conversations had with various individuals, put together in one account.
On a crisp September afternoon I sat on bench near a local park. A
man, close to my age, sat near me and took in the sights of the cool
day. We happened into conversation about life, family, and politics.
I made the mistake of allowing a stray comment from my lips regarding
the war in Iraq. The man turned to me with a sharp look in his eyes.
"Why don't you support the troops? Why do you hate our military? Why can't you just support the President's decisions?"
At that moment, something inside me snapped. My body began to shake
and my vision blurred. I had heard these questions before, several
times, doing my best to forget the ignorance from which they came. I
turned the other cheek when people asked me "Why do you hate America?"
or "If it's so bad here, why don't you move somewhere else?" I let
them question my patriotism, call me a traitor, because every one is
entitled to their opinion. I allowed myself to be marginalized and
called a left-wing wacko, though I knew the truth. In the greatest
democracy the world has ever known, I let them tell me that if I hadn't
killed for my country, then I had no right to speak. But not anymore.
Meeting the man's gaze, I narrowed mine.
"Who told you this?" I began. "Who told you supporting our troops
meant supporting endless war; that disagreeing with our
administration's policies meant turning my back on my country? Who
told you that I have to follow our President into the pits of a hell of
our own making, never questioning the course though my heart and head
scream for sanity? As for our fighting men and women, who told you
I've no compassion for their sacrifice or respect for their service?
As I beg my elected representatives to bring them home, so they might
be safe until the day a war of choice becomes a war of necessity - who
told you that makes me a traitor?
Who told you after September 11th, that the best thing to do was go
shopping; to live our lives as if nothing had changed, only to raise
the specter of that gruesome day to evoke fear whenever it
was politically convenient? Who told you that the greatest way to
honor those who perished was the dismantling of our liberties in the
name of security? When I mourn the loss of 3000 of my kinsman, why am
I any less a patriot when I question the poverty, oppression, and
genocide supported by our own foreign policy? Who told you that the
United States was the first nation to ever experience such sorrow,
giving us the mandate to tell the world "you're either with us, or with
the terrorists?"
The man was briefly taken aback, but then leaned forward to speak.
"Don't you know we have to fight them over there so we don't have to
fight them here? Al Qaeda is in Iraq! What do you want to do, just
coddle our enemies?"
"Who told you this?" I responded. "As the U.S. prepared for war,
who told you that Saddam Hussein gave aid and comfort to those who
attacked us on September 11th. Who told you he had weapons of mass
destruction, aimed at Israel and packaged just right for an attack on
the U.S.? When no WMD were found, who told you that the imposition of
democracy upon a sovereign nation was the best way to promote peace?
As the death toll rose, who told you that human life is only as
valuable as its geography; that nearly 80,000
killed in the Iraqi desert in a bungled war isn't as important
as 1 life in an American city. Who told you war would be easy; that
the mission would be accomplished before it truly began; that we'd be
greeted with flowers in the streets, as liberators; that massive
corporations should profit from death, and armed, mercenary groups -
like Blackwater - should have the authority to fire upon the free citizens of another country?
Who told you that upholding ignorance over understanding, and
dismissing our enemies as "crazed killers" is effective
foreign policy? When the United States refuses to meet with Syria,
Iran, or any nation willing to talk, who told you that this tactic
strengthens our credibility; that refusal to learn the language,
culture, and folkways of would-be terrorist nations makes us better
prepared to confront them?"
"But they're terrorists!" he said. "There's only one way to fight this evil."
"Who told you that the only way to fight evil is to embrace
evil; by stripping away inalienable freedoms that have been guaranteed
for nearly 800 years; casting aside the right of Habeas Corpus
-suspended only once - since King John signed the Magna Carta on the
fields of Runnymede in 1215? Who told you the best way to deal with
our enemies is through torture and coercion; forcing confessions with
Soviet style precision; that "alternative" means of interrogation stops
short of violating the Geneva Convention, allowing us to be the "good
guys" once again? Who told you that ignoring our Bill of Rights,
showing utter disdain of liberty for all the world to see, would make
us safer?
Who told you that our elected leaders should betray their supporters
by lying down in the face of opposition; that our basic Constitutional
rights aren't worth fighting for; that 51 votes doesn't matter because
no one wants to stand up to a filibuster; that there would be no
outrage? When American citizens clamor for public funding of
elections, to put democracy back in the hands of the citizenry, who
told you it would only create a new level of bureaucratic
mismanagement; that we couldn't trust our tax dollars at work? Who
told you that "business as usual" is the name of the game; that
politicians should engorge their coffers on the coin of special
interests? When you watched your government being put up for sale, who
told you that little green pieces of paper are more valuable than the
voices of your own people."
The man's eyes grew wide and he opened his mouth to speak again.
"But you liberals are all the same. You don't believe in anything.
You oppress Christians while supporting religions that have nothing to
do with America. And no one's ever wrong. You just want people to do
whatever the hell they want, as long as it "feels good".
"Just because I support the separation of church and state," I
responded, "who told you that I hate Christians; or that I would hold
Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Eckists, Wiccans, or Atheists above
followers of any other religion? Who told you that believing people
have the freedom to find truth through their own faith and
experience means I have no faith of my own? When you sat in your
church, free to worship your god, who told you that the Constitution
established Christianity, or any other faith, as the state religion;
that without prayer in schools, somehow our children would never learn
right from wrong, peace from war? Who told you that God would actually
bless America over every other nation in Its creation?
Who told you I didn't believe in the rule of law just because I
don't support state sanctioned homicide; that because I cherish life, I
want to see murderers and rapists roaming the streets; that I don't
believe in punishing the guilty. Who told you that I believe in the
victim mentality; that I have no concept of personal responsibility.
With over 12 million children living below the poverty level, and 38 million people
in American households dealing with hunger, who told you that everyone
on welfare is a free-loading bum; that health care for EVERY child
isn't necessary; that boys and girls should suffer the consequences of
their parents' decisions?"
The man frowned and shook his head, searching his mind for some response. But I would not relent.
"Tell me, sir, who told you that the marketplace would create well
paying jobs, a robust middle class, and end the scourge of poverty;
that it would solve the problems of a fragile environment, value labor
over capital by supporting workers' rights, and create a level playing
field for all regardless of wealth or position? Who told you that the
U.S. doesn't need a safety net; that the market will separate the wheat
from the chaff, and we'll all be better for it. Who told you that
unregulated capitalism would be tempered by wisdom, supported by a
progressive tax system, address our damaged immigration policy, and
create a new world order of mutual trade and cooperation?
With 2.5 billion
tons of CO2 forced into our atmosphere by manufacturing plants every
year, who told you that we couldn't possibly have an impact on the
environment; that global climate change was a myth; that 300 million
people burning 20.7 million barrels of oil per day, was insignificant to the health of this planet?
Please sir, who told you that we aren't one world; that it will always
be "us and against them"; that the truths we hold as "self evident"
reach only as far as our borders; that all men are not created equal;
that we are the arbiters of justice, the executioner's blade, and the
shining example of democracy that will glow, unblemished, for the next
1000 years."
Who told you these things?
Because, they lied.
