Occupy Wall Street protesters have, of course, spilled over to all sorts of communities throughout the U.S. The Drudgereport recently highlighted a group from Portland, Oregon, Occupy Portland, which was protesting by playing their own rock ‘n roll song, proclaiming, “EXPLETIVE the USA.”
         Why do so many elites hate America?
         I remember reading once about Reagan and Gorbachev in America. As I recall the story, the two leaders saw some protesters in the street with some sort of anti-American chant, along the lines of “Down with the USA!”
         Reagan said he didn’t agree with them, but at least they are free to voice their protests.
         Gorbachev said you could find these kinds of protesters in his country too.
         “Really?” replied the US president.
         “Sure,” said Gorbachev, “You can find protesters in Moscow, chanting ‘Down with the USA!’”
         So, I get back to my question. Why do so many Americans hate America?
         I guess it gets back to the ‘60s, when thousands hit the street to protest the Vietnam War, especially if they would be drafted to fight in a war they didn’t believe in.
        As mistaken as it may have been for the US to ever send any troops to Vietnam, it is true we didn’t go there so we could occupy the country, take it over, and grab its resources. As is generally the pattern of US involvement in wars, we went for freedom’s sake---either to defend ours or someone else’s. We went to try and protect innocent people from the terrors of Communism. (Terrors that ended up worse than predicted by the most ardent hawk in the killing fields when we pulled out.)
         Why do so many elites hate America?
         Because of slavery at the beginning of our country? It was so wrong, but the blood of 600,000 men were shed so this evil could be reversed. Was it because of the mistreatment of blacks for so long? But surely we’ve made much progress in this area. America is not perfect, but does it merit all the anti-American feeling from so many within its own borders?
         I’m in Norway as I write this (thanks to my Norwegian brother-in-law's frequent flier miles), and I find an intense love of country here and gratitude to be Norwegian. Of course, there are tens of millions of Americans who love their country too. But it seems to be discouraged to love America in some quarters.
         It would seem as if it’s not cool to love America, if you are an American.
         How long would an American flag hoisted with pride at an Occupy Wall Street protest last? Not long, I would imagine.
         The US Constitution is actually the model of constitutions for scores of countries all over the world (including that of Norway). More inventions have come from America than any other. America has sent more missionaries to all corners of the earth than any other country. America is very well-represented among Nobel Peace Prize winners.
         America’s founders said that our rights come from the Creator. In 1955, President Eisenhower said, “Without God, there could be no American form of         Government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first—the most basic—expression of Americanism.”
        Even when America doesn’t live up to its creed that our Creator has endowed us with certain unalienable rights, it’s still a good creed. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his classic speech: “I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.’" Surely, we have made great advances since he uttered those words in 1963. Are we not the only major country that has elected a black man as president?
        When you see the protesters at Occupy This & That, you would never realize that this country has a lot to offer. You would never realize all the opportunities available.
        Think of the would-be immigrants who literally risk their lives to try and get here. Some will risk their lives to leave Cuba, going through shark-infested waters, to try to get here. Those that make it here often do well over time, through incredible hard work and dedication.
        This is the land of opportunity. The problem is, said one commentator, that often when opportunity comes knocking, it’s dressed up in overalls and looks like hard work.
         Meanwhile, if you read the press on the Occupy This & That protesters, you would think all of these protests are simply spontaneous and that they have nothing to do with big money. But isn’t it true that George Soros money can be traced to the Canadian anti-consumerist group, AdBusters, which advertised (no pun intended) for protesters to come to Wall Street on September 17? That is when it all began.
         So the Occupy This & That protesters, including Occupy Portland, can chant anti-American slogans all they want. But their dissent and their freedom to express it, however crudely, is only a reminder of their God-given freedom in this land that they seem to hate so much.