Be ungrateful and blame America first: Part I

Alex B. Berezow
Political Hot Zone

This article represents the first in a two-part series dedicated to those individuals in this country who make it their duty to bash, discredit and defame the name of the United States of America. Part II of this series will print next week.

I have asked people outright, "Overall, in world affairs, is the United States the 'good guy'?" If you have to think at all before answering this question, then I suggest you pack your bags and move to France.

It is sad that certain seemingly well-educated Americans can luxuriously live their comfortable, middle-class lives in a coffee shop in suburbia and at the same time complain about how bad things are in the United States and how evil Americans are.

These are the same people who complain their rights are being trampled by the PATRIOT Act, yet are still allowed to protest every weekend and spread outright lies about the Bush administration without the slightest fear of ever being arrested (or run over by tanks like at Tiananmen Square or executed like in Saddam's Iraq).

These are the same people who claim corporate America is the root of all evil as they shop at Wal-Mart, sip $4 lattes in Starbucks and wear shirts made by Abercrombie and Fitch.

These are the same people who claim the United States has to bow down to the fictitious "international law," obey anti-Americans like Secretary General Kofi Annan and submit to the will of the impotent United Nations before honoring the national security and interests of the United States.

These are the same people who take Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky and Paul Krugman seriously.

These are the same people who say 9/11 was America's fault.

Yet, these are the same people who claim to be ardent patriots.

Who could I possibly be speaking of? None other than the off-the-deep-end left-wing extremists who are ungrateful for everything they have and blame America first for all that is wrong in the world. These views primarily exist on college campuses, where these extremists can afford to believe in a pie-in-the-sky world that does not really exist.

Daily Egyptian columnist Ana Velitchkova (author of "Eye on Earth"), who placed the blame on U.S. troops for massacres of Taliban soldiers committed by the Northern Alliance, is a crowning example of the "blame America first" crowd. (Although unjustified, these massacres were done in vengeance for atrocities committed by the Taliban on the Afghani people. Curiously, she neglected to mention that.) Blaming the U.S. troops is unconscionable, and they deserve an apology from Ms. Velitchkova.

But this is not the only example of Ms. Velitchkova's unabated America-bashing. Just read any one of her articles. (When you are finished reading, avert your eyes six inches to the left.)

What is more unbelievable to me is Ms. Velitchkova is a guest in our country. Criticism of our country is always welcome (no matter who you are or where you are from), but "bashing" is never welcome. The United States has shown graciousness in allowing people from all over the world to receive an education here. Instead of being grateful, Ms. Velitchkova hurls insults.

My grandparents were from the former Soviet Union. Both were captured by Nazi Germany and forced to work in labor camps until the end of World War II. After the war, instead of going back to the USSR, they came (with nothing) to the United States because of the ample opportunities this country had to offer them. They were so grateful to have been offered this privilege to come to the United States. Today, I owe everything I have to their hard work in a country that offered them the opportunity to be successful.

It would be nice if people like Ms. Velitchkova showed the same gratitude.

Of course, the issue is not whether these Liberals have the right to say what they do. Everyone has the right to be ungrateful and make fools of themselves. America's laws allow that (unlike the countries these extremists defend). But, by the same token, I have the right to expose them for what they truly are.

However, it is clear that people with Ms. Velitchkova's mindset are never going to show any gratitude whatsoever. Fair-minded people know this country has more to offer than any other country on earth.

Those individuals (natural-born citizens, immigrants, guests and otherwise) who do not realize that do not have to stay here. If you somehow perceive America as the root of all that is unjust and wrong in the world, then maybe it is time for you to pack your bags. No one here is going to stop you.

Political Hot Zone appears every Thursday. Alex is a senior in microbiology. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Egyptian.

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