I wrote a piece critical of President Trump’s despicable Tweets about four sitting US Congresswomen and the responses fit into two categories; those who agreed and those who think people like me should leave the country because we criticize policy or this president. (https://joebroadmeadowblog.com/2019/07/17/when-did-america-become-a-land-of-cowards/)
Reminds me of the pro-war signs (yes there were some) during the Viet Nam war. “My Country, Love it or Leave it.” Thus, the title and image cleverly designed to lure in those who read it and said, “Damn straight.” (It’s called bait & switch marketing, although they may have stopped reading by this point.)
Trump’s response to the widespread if disappointingly one-sided criticism was to carry on with the message with more tweets.
“In America, if you hate our Country, you are free to leave. The simple fact of the matter is, the four Congresswomen think that America is wicked in its origins, they think that America is even more wicked now, that we are all racist and evil.”
“IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY HERE, YOU CAN LEAVE!” (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1151700953030123522)
To oppose or disagree with policy, according to Mr. Trump et al. (you may see that term again), is to be un-American. If I understand his logic–as challenging as THAT is–this means the mark of true Americans is blind adherence to government policy and eschewing open discourse and discussion.
If we accept Mr. Trump’s “logic,” this is what history should reflect and what the future looks like.
If you disagreed with the genocide perpetrated against Native Americans, you should have left the country
If you disagreed with the legality of slavery, you should have just left the country.
If you disagreed with the Jim Crowe Laws, you should have just left the country.
If you disagreed with the denial of civil rights to minority men and women, you should have just left the country.
If you disagreed with segregation, you should have just left the country.
If you disagreed with giving women the right to vote, you should have just left the country.
If you disagreed with the Affordable Care Act, you should have just left the country.
If you disagreed with the Paris Climate Agreement, you should have just left the country.
If you disagreed with the loss of 56 thousand American military members in Viet Nam, you should have just left the country.
If you disagreed with the lack of aid to Puerto Rico or New Orleans after recent hurricane disasters, you should have just left the country.
If disagreeing with the current or future policies of the US Government demands one leave the country, no one would remain after just a few years.
Opposition, dissent, and disagreement are the three of the cornerstones of our form of government. The fourth, the one that makes the whole thing stand firm and tall, is compromise.
Without compromise, nothing works. Without dissent, there is no compromise. Blind adherence to government policies generally comes at the point of a blade.
If you love this country, as most Americans do, you work to right the flaws not ignore them. America is a far better place than many other places in the world. However, it is not perfect and to ignore problems is to be complicit in their continuity.
Dissent may in fact be the highest form of patriotism if the intent is to achieve what could be not just destroy what is.