Rudy Giuliani is an idiot. Unfortunately, he’s an idiot that a lot of people agree with. But he’s not really the leader of the idiots. He’s more like the exploiter of the idiots, and many of the idiots are more than happy to go right along with him.In my summary of Rudy, I’m referring to his recent comments about Barack Obama. Rudy said that Obama—who just happens to be the President of the United States, a position that Rudy tried to attain the same year that Obama did attain it—wasn’t brought up to love his country the way that the rest of us were.A couple of days later, given the opportunity to back away from his statement, Rudy refused to do so. “I want to repeat it,” he said. The words he wanted to repeat were spoken at a political fundraiser: “I do not believe the President loves America.”I’m embarrassed for the guy. Rudy, not Obama. I mean he’s like that old, partially senile uncle who used to be really important, but now nobody pays attention to him, but he still thinks he’s important so he spouts off every now and then just to say, “Look everyone, I’m still here!”As maddening as Rudy’s comments are, the more disturbing thing is that a large section of America agrees with him. A newly released HuffPost/YouGov poll shows that 69% of Republicans and 38% of Independents think that Obama does not love America.Are you kidding me?How did we get so stupid? And by we, I mean America, collectively. Everyone.When did it become possible that we’d believe that the President of the United States, the Chief Executive, the Head of State, the Commander-in-Chief, doesn’t love the country he leads? Do people know how ridiculous that sounds?I’m sorry to say this, but it’s just another sign of the absolute dumbing-down of America. Rudy Giuliani is an idiot, but he’s got plenty of company. At some point it became en vogue to question whether people involved in politics love America. And if someone doesn’t do certain things that the Love America crowd has decided must be done, then it’s a sign that they don’t love their country.I’m all for loving your country. I think people should take pride in where they live, and in their heritage and history. But for the love of God, you can’t replace thinking with love. Just because you love your country doesn’t mean that you can stop all brain activity.Remember those months shortly after 9/11 when it seemed we couldn’t turn in any direction without seeing half a dozen American flags? The terrorist attacks reminded people that they loved their country, and the only way anyone knew how to show it was to display the flag.
It sure didn’t take long before that simple act—displaying the flag—became an indicator of whether you loved your country or not.Seemingly overnight every politician from the town council to the President began wearing an American flag pin on their lapel. If politicians love their country then they should wear the flag on their lapel, right?But then in 2007, Obama had the audacity to stop wearing an American flag on his lapel. It was news. Really. Fox News aired a story about it. Talk radio hosts—those wretches of American political life who cloak their profit motive as genuine interest in issues and policy—devoted programs to it. And plenty of American voters were up in arms about it.And it all proved Obama’s point. His patriotism was being judged not by what he said, or what he did, or what he proposed, but rather whether or not he wore a lapel pin! No lapel pin, no patriotism. When people accept that sort of generalization, it’s easy to see how they can be fooled into questioning whether the president loves his country.(Incidentally, I’m wondering if Al-Qaeda realizes that they can setup an entire network here in the United States and no one will question them one bit as long as they all wear the American flag on their lapels and fly it in their yards.)Which brings me back to Rudy. The sad has-been mayor who tried to capitalize on the last four months of an eight-year term. Four months during which he was beloved, admired, respected, and universally praised for his leadership. He hoped those four months would lead him to the presidency, but things didn’t work out.But instead of using his long public service experience for something positive, he has devolved into the sort of simple-minded, fear-mongering, watch-out-for-people-who-are-different-from-you nitwit that excels in today’s political culture.And as long as a sizable chunk of the American public thinks that “loving” their country excuses them from having to think, idiots like Rudy Giuliani will continue to attract attention.Luckily, they’ll never do well in a nationwide election.PREVIOUS POST: Why Are Parents so Dumb?IF YOU LIKED THIS POST I BET YOU'LL ALSO LIKE: Voting with NRA is Pointless for Democrats+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Hey, did you like reading this? If so, you should Share it on Facebook so you can bring joy to others. You can also find tons of other posts by me here. And you can like my Facebook page, Brett Baker Writes. Please.
Want an e-mail every time I write something new? Type your email address in the box and click the "create subscription" button. I'm not going to send you a bunch of junk, and you can ditch me any time you want.