Introductory Comments
Because of the writing
I've posted on this page, many have accused me of being anti-American. In fact the opposite is true: following
the Bush presidency has made me more patriotic, not less. I've come to realize how important it
is to fight for the potential embodied in the American vision, a potential
that, domestically, is based on law, consensus and individual rights.
I've also realized
that, internationally, this American vision is not too different. To promote this vision Americans must
think as much about the example they set as they do about their substantial
economic and military might: i.e., they must be careful themsleves to follow
the principles they claim to support.
We make both our own
country and the international order weaker when we break laws and treaties we
ourselves helped forge. This has
become increasingly obvious in recent years.
Bush's breaking of
treaties, his foreign policy excesses and unilateralism, the fact that his
administration has adopted torture as an accepted method--all this makes me
ashamed of the route my country has taken. And it has led me to push for a return to more authentic
American values.
Taking a stridently
anti-Bush stance is not anti-Americanism.
It is love for their country and shame at the levels to which it has
sunk that has led many to stand against these extremists and essentialists,
these ideologues that evidently believe that because we are Americans we can do
what we like, the international order be damned. I would insist on the contrary: our flouting of the
international order has done us more harm than good, and if we continue down
this path we will only become less able to attain our goals. Does this make me anti-American?
Eric Mader
November 2005
Email: inthemargins03@hotmail.com
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