Ithaca
HOURS
Community Currency
This website is maintained by the founder of
Ithaca HOURS.
since 1991 The official website of the Ithaca HOURS board of directors is at ithacahours.org Paul Glover consults for grassroots economic development as GreenPlanners. |
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The Enemy Within by Paul Glover, Ithaca Times, March
1991
As the US
was about to attack Iraq for the first time, my letter to
editor was published:
Angry flag-wavers have patriotic feelings, like pit bulls have feelings, but they are not patriots. They are America's worst enemies, and they get troops killed. For years, the USA's genuine patriots acted to protect America from massive invasion by poison water, soil and air; to protect American jobs; to keep banks honest; and to challenge undemocratic corporations and bureaucracies. We have proposed energy legislation and changed our lives to make America safe from imported oil. |
Meanwhile furious flag-wavers condemn flag-burning, and burn our country itself, in their cars. They enriched Saddam Hussein and Kuwait's dictator. They are the enemy within, gobbling petroleum products and then throwing America away, into wastebaskets.
Many flag-wavers are too lazy to recycle, insulate, ride the
bus,
bicycle, read independently, run for office, or do anything difficult
for America. They therefore try to throw their own guilt at
those who
protest this war. |
War fans spit on the principles of the American Revolution when they charge obediently wherever their president points our flag. Many flag-wavers know little about the US Constitution, but can explain soap operas and football in detail. Some have phoned death threats to Ithaca's anti-war leaders. Others have punched protesting Ithaca High School students, or publicly threatened violence. These are the worst traitors to the American way. Although they would be good citizens of a dictatorship, allowing themselves to be driven mad with hatred and fear by sensational media, they are bad citizens of a democracy. The USA needs creative activists, not flag slaves. |
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