America Hell No

You know, I call recall a time when conservatives liked a strong America, rather than actively wishing, rooting, acting for a greatly weakened one. Oh, 2008, where did you go? (And what could possibly have changed since then?)

In Britain, Jon Cunliffe, who will become deputy governor of the Bank of England next month, told members of Parliament that banks should be developing contingency plans to deal with an American default if one happens.

And Chinese leaders called on a "befuddled world to start considering building a de-Americanized world." In a commentary on Sunday, the state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua blamed "cyclical stagnation in Washington" for leaving the dollar-based assets of many nations in jeopardy. It said the "international community is highly agonized."

Here's the thing: I think most of the radicals on the far right in the House are honestly too stupid to realize that what they're doing amounts to treason, and perhaps that makes all the difference. But the fact that they can look at this:

And not run in horror?

As Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote:

It is not so much the behavior of the lone idiot that matters, but the tenor of the crowd around him.

If a patriot can stand in front of the White House brandishing the Confederate flag, then the word "patriot" has no meaning. The Nazi flag is offensive because it is a marker of centuries of bigotry elevated to industrialized murder.

But the Confederate flag does not merely carry the stain of slavery, of "useful killing," but the stain of attempting to end the Union itself. You cannot possibly wave that flag and honestly claim any sincere understanding of your country. It is not possible.

Stupid, racist, hateful, greedy, some combination of them all? Whatever the truth—and I'm sure it varies by person—it makes them terrible, terrible people. And a far greater threat to this nation than Osama bin Laden ever was. 

Congratulations, Jefferson Davis. You still haven't lost quite yet. 

Comments

[Tom]

I want that Marine Corps flag out of that traitor's hands. It's my flag, and I don't want it associated with any political movement, let alone one enveloped in treason, racism, and hatred. The Confederacy was responsible for the deaths of more American soldiers than Hitler.