Dissidence is a form of patriotism
By Gary Caruso
Capitol Comments
On Tuesday, conservative radio entertainer Rush Limbaugh hurled a trash can in reaction to a speech by former Vice President Al Gore.
Gore had cautioned against rushing after Iraq's Saddam Hussein at the expense of combating terrorists worldwide. Limbaugh claimed he was so ill, he almost did not climb out of bed to work his show.
Nice drama, Rush. While he may entertain millions with his conservative ideology, he offers little to an honest, intellectual debate over staging a war with Iraq. Limbaugh makes millions of other Americans, including this writer, ill with his babble. If liberals, moderates and Democrats stooped to Limbaugh's level of "truth," long ago we would have begun a holy war against the current president like Limbaugh did on day one of the Clinton presidency.
Yet us "non-conservatives" are not questioning President Bush's efforts to fight Osama bin Laden. We know when to act as the loyal opposition, unlike anti-Clinton fanatics who claimed in 1998 that Clinton was "wagging the dog" to divert attention from impeachment proceedings. Ironically, Limbaugh and his fanatics prevented Clinton from seriously retaliating against bin Laden.
He mocks Clinton's veracity for merely firing missiles at bin Laden while Republicans waged their 1998 impeachment war.
If Limbaugh served in Vietnam, regardless of where his military assignment may have been, he would have credibility for his opinions regarding war. Al Gore is a Vietnam veteran.
If Limbaugh was an elected official who bucked his party to support the other party's presidential efforts in the Gulf War, he would have credibility when he comments on the methods and timing of Bush's war against Iraq. Al Gore was one of only a few Democratic U.S. senators who crossed over the isle to vote in a nonpartisan manner with Republicans to support Daddy Bush's Gulf War resolution.
If Limbaugh would pull his head out of his ideological bag, he might lose ratings points at the expense of gaining respect points. Despite Limbaugh's antics and jovial entertaining perspective, he is dead wrong whenever he attempts to tackle a serious issue.
Al Gore, the Vietnam veteran with a record of supporting the Gulf War, points out that this president has squandered the worldwide good will the United States gained after the Sept. 11 attacks with his insistence on fighting unilaterally if necessary. Gore notes that an immediate war with Iraq will dilute our anti-terror efforts, especially if we cannot provide compelling evidence of Iraq's immediate threat and the international community does not join us through the United Nations.
Gore, like conservative House Republican Minority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tex.), has shown great political leadership and courage in speaking out in opposition to a first strike against Iraq when others have remained mute.
Despite the White House's usual personal and nasty characterization of Gore, saying that he was "irrelevant," Gore and Armey have struck a chord with many. Both have articulated a position for those of us who, for whatever moral, diplomatic or logistical reasons, do not believe it is wise to attack Iraq at this time.
The president has already done much harm to our diplomatic relations abroad.
By accusing the United Nations of being irrelevant for not adequately enforcing 16 resolutions pertaining to Iraq, Bush has allowed our allies and foes to laugh at the United States for our refusal to pay U.N. dues.
They point at our hypocrisy by citing our recent Security Council abstention, the only non-affirmative vote, condemning Israel's current attacks in Gaza.
They in fact remind us that more than 100 U.N. resolutions condemning and sanctioning Israel have also not been enforced because the United States wants inaction.
The White House will do much domestic harm if it continues to portray the war with Iraq on patriotic terms. During the Vietnam War, my generation's patriotism was impugned by Richard Nixon and the great silent majority. The Reagan campaign in 1980 portrayed Republicans as flag-draped patriots implying that the Navy veteran Jimmy Carter was less of an American merely because he was unable to manage the economy and settle the Iranian hostage crisis.
Al Gore, this writer, Democrats, moderates, independents and liberals have joined our president in response to the terror attacks upon our fellow citizens and society. The president's natural constituency of conservatives, including wind bag Rush, need to realize that we are as much Americans, as much patriots as anyone.
If we choose to exercise our freedoms by questioning or even opposing the president's policies, we are patriots.
It is time that the intolerant who think they know everything realize that we are not living a John Wayne movie. At stake are American lives and long-lasting consequences after a war with Iraq.
Gary Caruso, Notre Dame class of 1973, served in President Clinton's administration as a Congressional and public affairs director. His column appears every other Friday. Contact him at Hottline@aol.com
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, September 27, 2002
