On America

Today is July 4th, the day the declaration of Independence was signed way way back in 1776. Because of this, it is often held to be the "birthday" of the United States of America. Of course the revolutionary war had been going on for roughly a year by this point, and the declaration itself was written on the 2nd, and the original government charter for the United States quickly became obsolete, so really I guess you could even say the nation wasn't born until the constitution was written many years later.

But really, I digress.

What is it to be American then?

Given the nature of our nation's birth, it is directly within our right to question authority. Given the nature of our nation's democratic elections, it is directly within our right to hold our elected officials accountable.

But there is a line, and I think we all know it.

It is most often crossed by those who are they themselves losing an argument, simply wishing to carry everyone down with them. Once this line is crossed, they cannot win. It is a simple matter of fact. Frankly it just sullies the entire system of argumentation and debate. It makes the actual idea of democracy seem unwanted, unfeasible, or even unnecessary.

The line is absurd comparisons. Most often it takes the form of Hitler comparisons, but really it could any force seemingly radical. And both sides (left and right wing nuts) are incredibly guilty of it.

Let me put it this way. Hitler was a human being (shocking, I know), and he ran a functioning government body (horrible, but functioning). Naturally, perhaps by mistake, his government and he were bound to do things right once in a while, naturally he might have had some human tendencies, being a human.

It is known he tried getting into art school as a painter. Does this make painters evil? Is the medium of painting forever tarnished by his youthful dream of becoming a painter?

That's really just one example, and it would really be a painstaking chore to try and redeem him anymore. Frankly, I don't think it should be done, but I was just trying to make a point.

You compare someone or something to Hitler and/or the Nazis, and you lose the argument. It shows you've lost respect for the argument itself.

Let's try it a different way, shall I?

George Washington was a butcher who was responsible for the deaths of many many lives, and was potentially a self-hating racist because a lot of them were British (Washington himself being of some sort of WASP heritage, as most of the founders were).

Of course all of these were during the course of war, both the Revolutionary and the French and Indian War. Facts can lie sometimes. They love to lie when you take them out of context.

The shocking thing is no one seems to bat an eye when this happens.

Being loud doesn't make your point right, and maybe if you listen to the other side you'll learn something. Insularity breeds ignorance.

Maybe we should compare our president to Hannah Montana.

I dunno, just spit-balling. Maybe it's less apt because Hannah Montana (despite her name) has never been involved with any sort of governing bodies.

-- Knuttel