ONE NATION,INDIVISIBLE?
The forces most dangerous and destructive to the United States are not from the Middle East or south of the Rio Grande or anywhere outside of the confines of our own nation and our own people. And hypocrisy is their religion. The height of hypocrisy occurs when the super-patriots, the Founding-Fathers-citing, democracy-touting, Bible-thumping Americans morph into their true selfish, crass and bigoted selves. Let's start with some quotes to clarify. How about beginning with one of their "macho" heroes...
"I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves." -John Wayne.
How much more moral, ethical, and honest is this...
"The mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation." -William McKinley
However John Wayne was not alone in being a famous hero with horrible, bigoted ideas...
"It is time to turn from quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. The alliance with foreign races means nothing but death for us." -Charles Lindbergh [he may have flown the Atlantic alone but he had lots of partners in this kind of thinking and love of fascism...Du Pont, Ford, Father Coughlin, and many extreme right-wing ideologues]
Many hypocrites think that war and armaments are always the answer. Yes, we need to remain strong and prepared, but we get so carried away with our macho hypocrisy that we are irrational...
"War, like any other racket, pays high dividends to the very few . . . The cost of operations is always transferred to the people who do not profit." -General Smedley Butler [two Medals of Honor]
"If we justify war it is because all peoples always justify the traits of which they find themselves possessed." -Ruth Benedict
"What difference does it make to the dead . . . whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy.?" - Mohandas Gandhi
"A man who experiences no genuine satisfaction in life does not want peace . . . Men court war to escape meaninglessness and boredom, to be relieved of fear and frustration." -Nels F. S. Ferre
"Instead of the government taking over industry when the war broke out, industry took over the government." -Claire Gillis
"A prejudiced person will almost certainly claim that he has sufficient warrant for his views." -Gordon W. Allport
"Hypocrisy -- prejudice with a halo." -Ambrose Bierce
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -George Santayana
"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices." -William James
I THROW THIS IN FOR EXTRA CREDIT: IT WILL REALLY RILE UP THE MACHO RIGHT-WINGERS:
"The tendency to identify manhood with a capacity for physical violence has a long history in America." -Marshall Fishwick [the enlistment centers are always looking for a few good men.....now re-read what I have written above about maintaining a strong nation to protect us, and hold off on the hypocrisy of macho heroism from the safety of your own home].