Ask yourself this question:

If an American is patriotic and loves his country, is he more likely to be a liberal or a conservative?

I know, it sounds like a loaded question, but stay with me here. I DO have a point.

This is from Ellen Goodman’s most recent column, entitled The Silenced Majority:

I automatically read "Support Our Troops" as a proxy statement for "Support Our Commander in Chief." The yellow ribbons tied for soldiers fighting in Iraq seem to have morphed into a collective blue ribbon for the president handling this war.

I think it’s fair to say that, at least from Goodman’s point of view, most of the people who express support for our troops are conservatives, or Republicans, or at least they support Republicans.

Goodman is a very bitter woman:

Today, few Americans see either a clear way forward or a clean way out of Iraq. When a war begun on false premises slogs on without an exit strategy, when a war against terrorists becomes a terrorist training ground, when the body count rises — 1,700 American troops and counting — it's time to give up the notion that dissenters are the dangerous ones.

Who has that notion? Who believes that the dissenters are the dangerous ones? Is it arguably true that those who are opposed to the war are in some way dangerous? Let’s examine the evidence.

On September 24th of this year, The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition hopes to organize a massive protest of those who are opposed to the war in Washington DC and other major American cities.

Thousands will march on Saturday, September 24 in Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition urges the antiwar movement to come together for a united demonstration.

Certainly, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition would qualify as a group of dissenters, people who are opposed to the war in Iraq. What do we know about the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition?

For one thing, it was founded on September 14, 2001. That’s right, THREE DAYS after the worst attack against us on American soil, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition formed in response to the American invasion of Afghanistan… before we invaded Afghanistan.

A.N.W.S.E.R. stands for Act Now To Stop War And End Racism. If only they’d added something about saving the environment and banning handguns, they’d have covered every trendy liberal cause. I guess the acronym would have been harder to figure out. But, I digress.

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition was formed, in part, by Ramsey Clark. He was Attorney General under Lyndon Johnson in the 60’s. Since then, he’s lost his mind.

Ramsey Clark is a member of Saddam Hussein’s legal team. He has supported other war criminals in the past, including Slobodan Milosevic and Elizaphan Ntakirutimana.

But Ramsey Clark doesn’t represent the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition all by himself, does he? Of course not. Other organizational members and prominent endorsers include The Korean Truth Commission and Pastors for Peace. What do we know about them?

The Korean Truth Commission and Pastors for Peace are staunch allies of Kim Jong Il and Fidel Castro, respectively, and both groups continue to support these murderous regimes’ violation of International law.

And what of the others behind A.N.S.W.E.R.?

…two other ANSWER Steering Committee members, the Muslim Student Alliance (MSA) and the Free Palestine Alliance (FPA), continue to contradict ANSWER’s alleged commitment to peace and ending racism. The Free Palestine Alliance is an outspoken supporter of the intifada, the Palestinian Uprising that has killed thousands of Israelis.

I could go on, but I think that a reasonable person would agree that the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is made up of staunch supporters of those who perpetrate genocide and murder and those who work for the destruction of America.

Contrary to Ms. Goodman’s assertion, it may be a little soon to “give up the notion that dissenters are the dangerous ones.” At least with regard to the groups organizing the September protest.

By the way, that protest, such as it is, likely won’t amount to much:

The groups listed in the ANSWER coalition are mostly individually small and almost all appear to be left wing. The main centers for demonstrations that the group has so far announced are all East Coast or West Coast cities in states that went predominantly "blue" for the Democrats in last November's presidential election. So far they have shown no sign of significant grassroots organizing support in any, let alone many, areas of the Republican political base across the United States' vast continental Heartland. And over the past 4 1/2 years every attempt to mount significant left-wing popular protests in the streets of Washington has fizzled.

So, let’s get back to my original question…

If an American is patriotic and loves his country, is he more likely to be a liberal or a conservative?

Like it or not, the general appearance as of now is that patriotism and love of country are exclusively conservative traits. Troglodytes like Ellen Goodman will, of course, insist that that’s because the Republicans have co-opted patriotism, stolen the flag, claimed the heart of America as their own, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I’d like to suggest that there is another, far more important reason for the perception.

It’s not that conservatives have co-opted patriotism. It’s that, over the past 30 or so years, liberals have aligned themselves more and more with the angriest, bitterest, most passionately anti-American fringe groups out there. What started in the 60’s as a kind of relevant and important national introspection has devolved into the ugliest possible self-hatred.

Liberals were once concerned with recognizing our flaws and changing them. Now, they’re concerned with punishing some American.. or some American group... for all sorts of crimes, both real and imagined.

Liberals want to punish successful American corporations for succeeding.

Liberals want to punish white American males for being white, American, and male.

Liberals want to punish American gun owners for owning the guns they’re constitutionally allowed to own.

And, most of all, liberals want to punish America for being the most successful free nation in the history of the world.

I could go on forever.

Am I wrong?

If I am, I really hope to see proof. I’d love to see liberals speaking out in droves against the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition and it’s ilk. I’d LOVE to see Liberals who are opposed to the war going out of their way to make it clear that A.N.S.W.E.R. does NOT speak for them.

It's a given for conservatives, isn't it? It doesn't matter if I support the war or not, the mere fact that I'm conservative makes it a given that A.N.S.W.E.R. disgusts me.

Why is that?

I think it has less to do with the way conservatives behave and more to do with the way liberals behave... or, at least, the way they've behaved in my lifetime. I know that liberal Americans haven't always been the way they are now.

Nothing would make me happier than to hear some group of liberals... or some liberal leader... say “YES! We are liberal, and we are opposed to the war, but we love this country and we will not associate with those who support it’s enemies!”

Who's up to that?

Howard Dean?

Ted Kennedy?

Nancy Pelosi?

John Kerry?

Hillary Clinton?

Jesse Jackson?

Michael Moore?

Ellen Goodman?

Who's the liberal who'll speak out against this kind of hatred?

Once that happens, my “loaded question” will look foolish, rather than seeming entirely relevant.

I’m not holding my breath.