Anti-war liberals are angry. Over the past two years, their party has imploded, their dreams of a socialist utopia have faded, and worst of all, their patriotism has supposedly been questioned.
"The Republican leadership has attacked our freedom to speak and even our very patriotism," flip-flopping John Kerry told a union audience in April. "I refuse to have my patriotism questioned ... I fought for and bled for and earned the right to express my views in this country."
Fellow indecision-maker Wesley Clark concurred: "No administration has the right to tell Americans that to dissent is disloyal and to disagree is unpatriotic."
The Great White Draft-Dodging Hope of all anti-war liberals, Howard Dean, shouted: "That flag does not belong to John Ashcroft, or Rush Limbaugh, or Jerry Falwell, or Tom DeLay. ... It is not unpatriotic to disagree with the president of the United States."
Peaceniks, striving to preserve their patriotic image, explain that they are "anti-war but pro-troops." But are they?
Far be it from me to question the patriotism of any man or woman who has served in the Armed Forces. I do not doubt the patriotism of John Kerry or Wes Clark (Howard Dean is another matter). However, it is time for those liberals who say they are anti-war but pro-troops to put their money where their mouths are. Anti-war liberals are quick enough to call for tax boosts, but when it comes to charity, they can't seem to find their checkbooks. If these anti-warniks are pro-troops, let them show it by donating to our soldiers.
My hopes are not high for these so-called anti-war patriots. They are much better at spending others' money than opening their own wallets. A 2003 state-by-state study done by the Center for Philanthropy measured charitable donations in relation to income. The "Generosity Index" created by the study showed that the top 20 generous states are states that voted for Bush in the 2000 election. Heavily liberal states like Massachusetts, Vermont, California and New York ranked 47th, 38th, 29th and 25th, respectively.
So, I offer the following challenge. I will describe two non-profit, non-partisan, pro-troops charities below. Both liberals and conservatives should donate to these charities. After donating, send me an e-mail with your name, the amount you donated, and whether you are pro-war or anti-war. After the charities verify each donation, I will tally up the total amount donated by each side. Let's find out if anti-war liberals are really as patriotic as they suggest.
Here are the charities: Continued... |