Mourning for America

As Americans we can disagree about how to proceed in Iraq, how to solve our illegal immigration problem, what to do about our health care crisis, and the list could go on. For the most part, we disagree with respect. Our Congress does not find itself in brawls like some other countries. Our politicians stand on the same stage as each other and can shake hands at the end. Even though the media loves for them to throw stones at each other, they refrain.

Even here at the VoterVault we can disagree, but we do so with the understanding that we are all on the same team. We all want to see a strong and prosperous America; we just disagree on how to best achieve that.

From time to time, though, the good-intentioned disagreement between our citizens becomes more than that. It crosses a line and goes from being a "disagreement" to something much, much worse.

That happened yesterday.

The anti-war movement has been quite strong for a long time. It has been the past six months or so that it has gained significant strength. Since the Democratic takeover of Congress, the anti-war protests have taken on a new fervor. In large part this is due to the high expectations Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders/candidates set in their months of campaigning. They used the War as a rallying cry for both the Liberal base and the moderate vote. Now that reality has set in, and governing has proved harder than campaigning, the anti-war movement seems to be ever-more frustrated. From their perspective it was the evil GOP who was running this war--now Pelosi et. al. have become complicit. They have not cut off the funding for the war, something for which the staunchest anti-war protesters long.

What this has caused in some of the protesters is something for which we should all mourn: they have turned from being anti-war to anti-America.

This was the scene from the protest in Portland yesterday:In case it is hard to make out, that is the the likeness of a U.S. soldier being burned as the crowd cheers and takes pictures.

It is generally easy for me to separate emotions from political analysis. Not with things like this. It doesn't fill me with rage, but with deep sadness for our country. We have lost all boundaries. We have left all decorum and all reason. We have lost respect, compassion, and limits.

Certainly, not all those who fall in the "anti-war" camp are like this. If anything, this makes me respect the Democrats in Congress more; at least they pay lip service to the troops while opposing their actions.

There is obviously a culture war going on in America. What I have failed to realize is how deep it runs. There is a faction in this country (albeit a small one) who thinks that America is essentially bad. We are the evil empire. We are the cause of most of the suffering in the world. They burn our flag, burn our troops, and long for a world where America is brought down so that there is "equality" between nations. They are not anti-war, anti-Republican, anti-capitalist, anti-traditional values. They have gone further than that.

As long as we are all on the same team we can strongly disagree all day long. We can cite our facts, support our side, argue for this policy or that, go back and forth, and ultimately there will either be compromise or one side will win. That is how our republic works.

But apparently some of us are not on the same team. In the name of peace they are becoming militant. In the name of compassion they are filled with hatred. To end what they see as aggression, they use greater aggression. And worst of all, they use the banner of "anti-war" to be anti-America.