2008 Woodie Awards
Not quite fascism
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
Re: "Resisting Conformity in the Political Arena," Joshua Wilder, Ed/Op, April 22, 2008.
There I was, peacefully reading about Obama's ordeal with his flag lapel pin. I was almost finished with Joshua Wilder's passionate exploration of "true patriotism," and I had only grumbled a couple of times. Mostly, I was wondering if Wilder will be as forgiving of the next white person whom the press pillories for allegedly racist comments as he was to Rev. Jeremiah Wright in calling him merely "kooky."
I was almost to the end, and then Wilder went and dropped the "F" bomb on me. In his defense, he did say that Obama's flag pin nightmare only reminded him of fascism, and not that it is actual fascism, but the way he left it hanging there at the end of a paragraph, and almost at the end of the whole column, made it clear that he was only trying to sound reasonable.
Clearly, he would like to accuse everyone who does not vote for Obama because of his refusal to wear a flag lapel pin of being an actual fascist. However, as with Obama's inspirational campaign rhetoric, if Wilder is going to write a column based on shaming people with words, you had better make sure that you use the correct words in the proper way.
In fact, Obama's caustic response to why he does not wear a flag lapel pin is more of an issue for me than the flag lapel pin itself. Recall that he accused all those who wear the pin of artificial patriotism when he explained why he doesn't wear the flag lapel pin "that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest."
Unfortunately for Wilder, his characterization is totally inaccurate. Fascism is when someone forces you to do something that you should be free to decide for yourself. I don't recall seeing any breaking news about government goons tackling Obama and carting him off to jail for not wearing a flag lapel pin.
Re: "Resisting Conformity in the Political Arena," Joshua Wilder, Ed/Op, April 22, 2008.
There I was, peacefully reading about Obama's ordeal with his flag lapel pin. I was almost finished with Joshua Wilder's passionate exploration of "true patriotism," and I had only grumbled a couple of times. Mostly, I was wondering if Wilder will be as forgiving of the next white person whom the press pillories for allegedly racist comments as he was to Rev. Jeremiah Wright in calling him merely "kooky."
I was almost to the end, and then Wilder went and dropped the "F" bomb on me. In his defense, he did say that Obama's flag pin nightmare only reminded him of fascism, and not that it is actual fascism, but the way he left it hanging there at the end of a paragraph, and almost at the end of the whole column, made it clear that he was only trying to sound reasonable.
Clearly, he would like to accuse everyone who does not vote for Obama because of his refusal to wear a flag lapel pin of being an actual fascist. However, as with Obama's inspirational campaign rhetoric, if Wilder is going to write a column based on shaming people with words, you had better make sure that you use the correct words in the proper way.
In fact, Obama's caustic response to why he does not wear a flag lapel pin is more of an issue for me than the flag lapel pin itself. Recall that he accused all those who wear the pin of artificial patriotism when he explained why he doesn't wear the flag lapel pin "that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest."
Unfortunately for Wilder, his characterization is totally inaccurate. Fascism is when someone forces you to do something that you should be free to decide for yourself. I don't recall seeing any breaking news about government goons tackling Obama and carting him off to jail for not wearing a flag lapel pin.
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