The recent media meme about “anti-government rhetoric” having anything to do with the Arizona shooting has fell flat with the American public, but the calls to return to “civility” nonetheless are still floating heavy around Washington. Part of that “civility” must include, we are told, a toning down of our “anti-government” (and implicitly conservative) rhetoric.
It has become a given among journalists and politicians that “anti-government” is a euphemism for “conservative.” Its not.
Here are some examples of anti-government rhetoric from progressives, just to prove the point:
These quotes, ranging from accusing the President of the United States of purposely lying American into an illegal war to orchestrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks and infiltrating the black community with drugs and racist laws for the intentional purpose of oppressing blacks, are all extremely anti-government. They have been uttered by Al Gore, Dick Durban, Michael Moore, Ramsey Clark, Harry Belafonte, Noam Chomsky, 9/11 Truth.org, Spike Lee, and Jeremiah Wright, respectively.
Liberals weren’t all too supportive of the government’s war in Iraq, nor are they very supportive of the government’s immigration enforcement actions against “undocumented workers,” or the government’s restrictions on abortion and gay marriage. During Sen. Bernie Sanders’ eight-hour filibuster of the extension of the Bush tax cuts, Sanders accused the American government of practicing “socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.” Democrats and liberals weren’t all that happy about the deal even though it extended unemployment benefits and Obama’s stimulus tax credits. Keith Olbermann compared President Obama’s compromise to Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Nazi Germany.
Conservatives don’t hold a monopoly on anti-government viewpoints. I would submit that someone who believes that America is an inherently racist nation and a purveyor of terrorism is more likely to be a liberal progressive than a conservative.
