<I gave up on Current Vents when you posted that mean-spirited message quoting people's reasons for flying, or not flying, the flag; rating each person "American" or "un-American" according to your narrow definition of what it means to be an American. Your "big tent" is about the size of those little paper parasols they stick in sweet drinks.

As usual, words are being jammed into my mouth. If you would examine the original post you will note that I was not calling people "American" or "UnAmerican," but rather "jerks" or "not jerks." A close reading will also show that I did not assign such labels based on display of the flag, but rather based on the attitude and philosophy--or lack thereof--of the person.

I understand that there has been a major paradigm change in the past two weeks. People (NOT the people on this board, but the ones I refer to in articles) who had made a career of pissing on the United States and its values have been caught off guard. Of COURSE they're uncomfortable and angry. Watching them try to change their public image, trying--usually unsuccessfully--to halt the momentum of their life-long anti-Americanism, has been a source of great amusement to me.

Two weeks ago, the term "flag-waver" was an insult. No one with any honesty whatsoever can deny this.

The fact that it was an insult says something about our society that I have been trying to point out. Today you can put a flag on your car without being immediately labelled a knuckle-dragging, gay-bashing, slope-skulled Neanderthal who is probably out hunting for minorities to string up. Personally, I call this a change for the better.

You know, back when they were considering creating the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday (an issue I didn't really care about either way), some well-meaning people said that there shouldn't be a national holiday, and that there were other, better ways to honor King, each in our own way.

These people didn't hear about a big tent. These people didn't hear about tolerance, or "defining our values in our own way." They were tarred as "racist" and worse, and railed on mercilessly by the oh-so-tolerant left. As usual, tolerance is a one-way street.

What the hell gives you the right to slice and dice your fellow citizens that way? What gives you the right to decide who's an American and worthy of respect, and who's not? Especially now, when what America desperately needs to survive and prevail is unity. You and the Ayatollahs Falwell and Robertson are exemplars of the kind of extremists who define paradise as a world cleansed of your long list of enemies. You're part of the problem.

I will "slice and dice" idiocy as long as there is breath left in my body. I will decide who is worthy of my respect the same way I have done all my life: by using my judgement based on my values and experience.

I see the baseless character assassination that is usually one of the first arrows in the left's quiver has been brought out. I am apparently one with the Ayatollahs, Falwell, and Robertson, despite what I have said on the subject.

And I don't "cleanse" political enemies--I convince them. And if not, I try to convince the people watching the argument.

America is much more than an economic system that produces wealth for some. America is a nation of people, characterized by high ideals and commitment to moral and ethical values, even as we exercize our right to define those values each in our own way. An American is defined by that right and the willingness to exercize it; not by allegiance to a political party, religion, or economic philosophy. An American is someone who respects and values his fellow citizens without a litmus test or identifying emblem such as the flag; someone who understands that America's basic strength and the source of its claim to moral superiority is the breadth of its big tent.

No argument there, as anyone who has really paid attention to me would know. A free-market economic system is one RESULT of a free society, not a cause--as several third-world nations have discovered to their dismay--but it is an essential part.

And as far as a "big tent" is concerned, that's just fine. However, I would appreciate the right to exclude those who want to kill or enslave me.

I am proud to be an American, and proud to disagree with you on most things. I understand that your right to spew venom is the price we must pay for a free society; but I also have the freedom to ignore you and relegate you to the obscurity you so richly deserve. I understand Mary Anne's reasons for leaving, and I support her. I won't post on Current Events either. Enjoy preaching to the choir.



--Robert