wotiwrote

One of the most worrying thing about the US - for most Europeans at least, I would imagine - is the continual use by the right wing of the terms liberal and lefty as terms of abuse that seem to need no further explanation. The terms are bandied about in much the same way as 'fag' or 'dyke' would be by the homophobic or some racist slurs by the xenophobic. A new term suggests itself: democraphobic.

Anyway, I was minded of all this when I read the wonderful Dan Gillmor's blog entry today about the way he feels defensive in the face of non-American criticism. It is a short piece but manages to convey his deep love for his country - in a far-from-sentimental way - while also seeing clearly that its current path is losing it friends and the respect of a large part of the world. He says,

America is my home. I want it to be a positive example for the world. We are risking more than global contempt with our actions, but I fear we don't understand why.

It's words like these that give hope that the US won't head down this path for ever.

And the first comment on his blog? Some fan of Fox News decides that any criticism of the US right to use torture (which is either saving lives or is actually a bunch of lefty calumnies - apparently Al Jazeera is rubbish, too) is unpatriotic. Yawn. Dan answers this succinctly but with little hope, I feel, of making any impression on one whose ideas are so sadly skewed.