One aspect of Mr. Freedland’s article that annoys me is how he seems to have a desire to become head cheerleader for a future American civil war.
He writes, “Yes, blue-state America will go into mourning once again, feeling estranged in its own country.” Firstly, this sounds like wishful thinking on Mr. Freedland’s part. Elections come and go, but people who live in a healthy democracy respect the results of elections.
Secondly, let’s say Mr. Freedland is accurate. Would the “world” really be better off with “red-state America feeling estranged in its own country”? Does Mr. Freedland truly regard “fly over country” as beyond the Pale?
Thirdly, Mr. Freedland’s pomposity is precisely the kind of arrogance that makes it difficult for liberals, progressives, and Democrats to ever get elected in the United States. Would any sane Democratic presidential candidate proclaim himself to be Gordon Brown’s poodle? Does Mr. Freedland really think that Americans are more likely to “behave themselves” if the European Union points a loaded gun at America’s head and threatens to shoot if we vote the wrong way? It was Mr. Freedland’s variety of high-handedness that led thirteen colonies to secede from the British Empire in the first place; apparently he desires to promote a new age of American isolationism as well — all because he happens to idolize one particular Chicago politician.
Mr. Freedland may be expressing his own feelings about America, but they are as diplomatic as the Zimmermann Telegram. He is venting a primal scream of raw hatred against people from the American interior and his is the kind of message that will serve the interests of neither Britain nor his Europhile allies in North America in the long run.
If Barack Obama and his supporters lose this election, they have only themselves to blame. Barack Obama didn’t need to make remarks that conveyed an impression of bigotry against rural voters. He didn’t need to associate himself with a racist church. And yet, these are peripheral issues compared to the essential one – his supporters want him to win too much. In politics, it is often crucial to mask one’s enthusiasm for one’s own cause so one doesn’t stir up a backlash. When Obama supporters at home and abroad threaten tantrums if their idol doesn’t win this election, they come across as a bunch of intolerant fanatics, not as rational people. When Obama supporters want him to win too much, it should not be a surprise when they find a chilly reception.
Bigotry isn’t the exclusive province of the Right and neither is political correctness the exclusive province of the Left. Leftists often talk about how we should try to understand our enemies and not demonize them; perhaps Mr. Freedland ought to immerse himself in the life of interior Americans and possibly learn that interior Americans aren’t quite the monsters he thinks we are. That is, if he doesn’t wish to become a latter-day Sayyid Qutb.
