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There have been many letters published in newspapers across America suggesting that those of us who opposed the reelection of George W. Bush should “get over it”. These writers usually go on to complain of liberals with long faces walking the streets, snarling and uttering profane and indefensibly leftist sentiments which cause immeasurable pain and suffering to these angels of conservative goodness. Such stories usually conclude with the suggestion that those who disagree with the latest Republican election fraud should leave the country posthaste.
I confess that I myself was seriously considering relocation to kinder and gentler shores. Then I realized that America has always been a place of struggle between those who believe in freedom, and those who would kidnap and hold it hostage to fear. There is no difference between the Red Scare of fifty years ago and the Orange Alerts of today.
I understand completely the feelings of those expatriates who left the United States during the McCarthy era. I also have sympathy and respect for American patriots who choose to leave now that President Bush has been reelected. They are neither misperceiving nor misrepresenting the situation; things are undoubtedly bad, and will get much worse before they are overcome. But I wouldn’t think of leaving. I am not going to “get over it”, leave it, get around it, accept it, buy into it, or do anything but oppose it with the last breath in my body. The reason for my change of heart is very simple. What the Bush Administration is doing is wrong. Those who support it are standing up for what is wrong.
And opposing what is wrong, and standing up for what is right, is the most important value of all. Half the battle of fighting evil is showing up. It would be immoral for me to do anything else. Perhaps the time will come when I feel I can only fight for our country by living outside its borders. But for now, I think I'll do my best to fight here, in this arena.
After all, it's my country too, no matter what George W. Bush and his supporters think.
I confess that I myself was seriously considering relocation to kinder and gentler shores. Then I realized that America has always been a place of struggle between those who believe in freedom, and those who would kidnap and hold it hostage to fear. There is no difference between the Red Scare of fifty years ago and the Orange Alerts of today.
I understand completely the feelings of those expatriates who left the United States during the McCarthy era. I also have sympathy and respect for American patriots who choose to leave now that President Bush has been reelected. They are neither misperceiving nor misrepresenting the situation; things are undoubtedly bad, and will get much worse before they are overcome. But I wouldn’t think of leaving. I am not going to “get over it”, leave it, get around it, accept it, buy into it, or do anything but oppose it with the last breath in my body. The reason for my change of heart is very simple. What the Bush Administration is doing is wrong. Those who support it are standing up for what is wrong.
And opposing what is wrong, and standing up for what is right, is the most important value of all. Half the battle of fighting evil is showing up. It would be immoral for me to do anything else. Perhaps the time will come when I feel I can only fight for our country by living outside its borders. But for now, I think I'll do my best to fight here, in this arena.
After all, it's my country too, no matter what George W. Bush and his supporters think.