‘Love it or leave it’ was big during Vietnam — how’d that go?
“America: Love it or leave it.’’ Where have we heard this before? Some 50 years ago, proponents of an ill-advised war in Southeast Asia used it as a rallying cry to win support for their cause. Today, this sentiment has reared its ugly head again, as backers of a corrupt administration and a financial system that favors the rich and white seek to silence dissenters.
I hated the idea of “Love it or leave it’’ in the 1960s, and I hate it now. Such an attitude is arrogant and ignorant — arrogant in that it assumes that those who hold certain beliefs own the country and can wrap themselves in the flag, declare themselves “incredible patriots,’’ and invalidate anyone who disagrees with them; and ignorant in that it disregards our entire history. America is the child of dissent. “Love it or leave it’’ stifles ideas, ends discussions, closes doors, and disenfranchises Americans.
It should be noted that those who espoused “America: Love it or leave it’’ in the ’60s were wrong. The war was a disastrous foreign policy blunder that cost the country billions of dollars and more than 58,000 lives. Forty years later, even the architects of that fiasco admitted its failure. The dominos didn’t fall, and the free world was not overwhelmed. We can only hope and pray that this time around we smarten up a little sooner.
Edmund Furtek
East Falmouth
Divide-and-conquer strategy stirs frenzy on both sides
The right wants to kill Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the far left wants to bounce Nancy Pelosi. The stock market is booming, but half the country owns zero. The unemployment rate is historically low, but businesses oppose raising the minimum wage to $15. The income inequality gap is growing larger, and now we want to argue over racism.
What is going on? Simply, it is the divide-and-conquer strategy. We know that Donald Trump and his crowd are great at this. Now we have AOC’s chief of staff and the Justice Democrats trying to burn the government down by primarying Democrats instead of targeting Republicans. What is going on?
We seem to be going to hell in a handbasket. It is imperative that we calm down, find reasonable people to lead, and honor the values of decency and fair debate.
James J. Cullen
Yarmouth Port
