The "Angry Americans" Are Making Me Angry

Everyday I wake up to headlines about how the people of America are so dissatisfied with the government. Headlines about another Tea Party rally, the media quickly becoming the greatest form of promotion for this half-cocked "organization." CNN.com leads with headlines like "The United States of Angry" and "Rising Distrust of Government in America." I hear people voicing frustration over "big government" and "paying higher taxes." I've been listening and reading and finding myself getting angry and frustrated but not with the government.

I want to know where all these "angry Americans" were during the eight years of the Bush administration when our country waged two wars- one in Iraq, arguably unjust, and another in Afghanistan, arguably poorly funded and poorly executed. Where were the Tea Partiers when we were torturing prisoners at Guantanamo? Where were the angry Americans when the documents were released and the former White House staff started coming forward with reports suggesting the Bush administration lied about its reasons for declaring war in Iraq? Where were the protesters when President Bush was alienating our country from the rest of the world? Where were the protesters when the No Child Left Behind travesty was unleashed on the American educational system? Where was the outrage?

Now, I hear people, who have no idea who Karl Marx was or what he stood for, calling President Obama a Marxist. I hear the words "socialism" and "socialist" thrown around by Americans who, when questioned, have no idea what socialism is. I've asked. Just the other day I asked a man who said that if he wanted to be a socialist, he'd move to Europe, what he thought socialism is. His response was that socialism is "when the government controls everything and tells you what you can and can't do." That's not socialism. That's communism.

Rush Limbaugh compared President Obama to Hitler. Are you kidding me? What an outrageous and insulting statement, not just to President Obama but to every man, woman, and child who was tortured and died under Hitler's rule. I've seen the new health care legislation compared to Hitler's Enabling Act. For those of you who may not know, the Enabling Act allowed the government to pass laws without parliamentary consent or control. The health care bill was voted on fair and square.

What I'm hearing from these so-called angry Americans is a lot of fear-based rhetoric but little in the way of facts about the issues. For example, I keep reading and listening as people complain about rising taxes, yet 95% of America received a tax break in 2009. Maybe they don't know they received a tax break. That's my point. So many people, so much anger, so little knowledge.

I know our government is not perfect, and I know President Obama will not be the perfect leader. But then, what nation has a perfect government? And who was the last perfect political leader? If the citizens of this country are finally interested in getting involved in their government, great. I'm in full support of rational debates based on logic, sound reasoning, and concise knowledge and understanding of the issues at hand. I just don't see any of that criteria being met within the Tea Party "movement" or the self-proclaimed angry Americans.

[Cynthia blogs regularly at Blog About It]