by Gary Bauer
In the long run, who most harms the United States? Is it U.N. bureaucrats like Hans Blix, French leaders like Jacques Chirac, or Islamic terrorists? They all make a contribution, but at the end of the day I believe we have more to fear from the anti-American crowd right here at home.
The latest members of the “hall of shame” are the Dixie Chicks, one of whom, Natalie Maines, began a recent London concert with these words, “Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” Here we are at the cusp of war, our men and women in uniform ready to march into Hussein's hell, our government under fire from “friend” and foe alike, and the multi-millionaire Dixie Chicks lob a grenade home.
If only their ingratitude was an oddity, but, unfortunately, the “blame America first” crowd is not just in the streets of Paris and Berlin. Its denizens are right here among the most privileged and blessed of our country. Read the words of novelist Tom Robbins writing in the Seattle Weekly. He says of his country, “Quite probably the worst thing about the inevitable and totally unjustifiable war with Iraq is that there's no chance the United States might lose it.”
In case you missed this, it is worth repeating because it strikes at the heart of the “anti-war” movement. A recent demonstration in California devolved into an attack on a memorial to those who died on September 11th. The memorial had been lovingly maintained by average Americans since that terrible morning to honor their fellow citizens who died for no other reason except for the fact that they were Americans. This so enraged the “peace” demonstrators that they ripped up 87 flags and smashed nearly a dozen memorial tiles. The memorial has been rebuilt and is now bigger than before. But what explains this self-loathing hatred that beats so strongly in the hearts of so many?
I saw the seeds of it in dozens of schools I visited during my 18-month presidential campaign. From Vermont to Minnesota, from Iowa to Georgia, I was confronted in classrooms by kids as young as 10 or 11 who had been taught every one of America's flaws and nothing about our greatness. For many of these children — America's children — the sacrifices at Concord Bridge, in the fields of Antietam and on the beaches of Normandy were unknown and meant nothing. They sit on the shoulders of heroes, but all they can see is the distorted picture of a nation painted for them by hateful ideologues.
No one can match our smart bombs. The satellites we have circling the earth can spot a terrorist's car pulling out of a driveway in Cairo. The firepower on a U.S. aircraft carrier is beyond match in the history of the world. But none of it will help us prevail in the dark days ahead if we do not rearm the hearts and souls of our children. How do we accomplish this? By teaching them to love God and to know He is the author of our liberty; to cherish this good and decent land; to appreciate the spilled blood and the patriot graves. In short, we must teach our children to love and to honor the values we love and honor — our American values.
Gary Bauer is chairman of the Campaign for Working Families.
