Is Michelle Bachmann Anti-American?

Okay, so it's taken me awhile to get around to writing this...BUT...on October 17, 2008, Michelle Bachmann (a Republican representing Minnesota in the US House of Representatives) was interviewed by Chris Matthews on Hardball and she word vomited all over the place on national television. Filthy, nasty words continually spewed forth from her mouth.

She set out to attack Barack Obama; she called him anti-American, and as she began to explain her reasoning, she dug herself into a deeper and deeper hole, which ultimately resulted in the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) pulling all their funds from her campaign for re-election. Anyhow, her argument was based on a "guilty by association" theory. She says Obama is anti-American because of his close associations with Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers whom she called radical leftists with anti-American views. She went on to imply that all leftists are anti-American. But let's back up just a second here...Jeremiah Wright may have some views that are a little twisted, he may have said some things that weren't right and even offensive, but first, if you sit in any church long enough, you'll hear the Pastor say something you don't agree with or something that offends you; Pastors are human, too. Secondly, this man served in the US Marine Corps and Naval Academy and was entrusted with the care of post-operative then-President of the US, Lyndon B. Johnson. This is a man who has served our country and important people to our country; no matter what things he may have said, we should never call him anti-American. He put his life on the line for the United States...that sounds pretty pro-American to me. Bill Ayers, on the other hand, I think we can call anti-American.

So back to lefties and righties. If we viewed all possible political beliefs on a spectrum, as most do, we will have a far left being as liberal as it gets, and a far right being as conservative as it gets, and every point in between. Every point along this spectrum is American no matter where it falls because it is built upon the foundation that we have the right, as Americans, to decide on our own where our personal views will fall. It seems anti-American to me to call another American anti-American because they hold views that differ from your own. HELLO!! Amendment numero uno! I've got to take it back to the tried and true. The First Amendment tells me that I can believe whatever I want. If this is part of the US Constitution, that which provides the basic framework for the organization of the US government, then it is an American concept to think for yourself and to hold any view you see fit. I take serious issue with her implication that all liberals or leftists are anti-American. Leftists can be called anti...well, a lot of things, just as rightists can be called anti a lot of other things, but not one of those options should ever be anti-American.

So, when is it okay to call an American "anti-American"? Well, when they hatefully terrorize and/or kill other Americans who are working to ensure the successful management of this country or destroy buildings, files or other intelligence used for the same purposes...Would you like an example? Bill Ayers. He bombed the New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, the US Capitol in 1971 and the Pentagon in 1972.

Even though I think it is wrong to call another American anti-American because you disagree with their views, and the whole idea of it sounds pretty anti-American in itself, I am not going to go as far as to call Michelle Bachmann anti-American. During the infamous Hardball interview, Chris Matthews asked her how many people in the Congress she suspected of being anti-American and she responded with this: "The news media should do a penetrating exposé and take a look...at the views of the people in Congress and find out, 'Are they pro-American or anti-American?' " So, based on my previous explanation of the 1st Amendment, what is it about her that makes her so profoundly pro-American?

Why would she even want to sit in Congress to serve alongside and "pal around with" so many she believes to be anti-American? If she were on the outside looking in, she'd label herself guilty by association much like what she has done to others. She obviously doesn't seem to respect the authority of the US Constitution in its entirety. Is that pro-American? In fact, it seems as if she would prefer it to be revised regarding freedom of belief...while we're at it, why don't we start convicting people for the crimes of the people they know?

Well, I was planning on going in a slightly different direction with this topic, but this is where I wound up. This is blog #2 that talks about the 1st Amendment, I guess I'm a little more passionate about it than I thought. Below I have pasted a link from YouTube of the interview. It cuts off the first few minutes, but it contains the "meat" of the interview; I'm sure you can find the full length version on there if you haven't seen it, yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESdA52S4Dbg