Dear Chirpy Bimbo

I was reading one of James Wolcott’s blog posts last night. This is a quote from it:

I’m reminded of the chirpy bimbo I saw in the studio audience of Fox News yesterday who volunteered that she didn’t have a problem with the domestic spying because “If it keeps us safe, I have nothing [to] hide.” Which was met by an assenting round of applause. In order to feel “safe,” Americans are will[ing] to sacrifice and surrender almost anything to authority, blithely disposing of the principles this country was founded upon. As Gore Vidal said in a recent interview, asked if Americans would “stand for” a military dictatorship, “They’ll stand for anything. And they will stand for nothing."

To that young lady I’d like to say this: You apparently think it is more important to save your butt and keep it safe than it is to protect the United States Constitution. The Constitution, we hope, will endure long after your butt and mine have turned to dust in the ground. But it will take a little sacrifice to make sure it endures—ceding a little bit of safety for the continued guarantee of democratic freedom. That’s what being a Patriot means. No one ever said it would always be easy or without risks or threats. You can’t wear the mantle of Patriotism if you’re willing to sell bits and pieces of your birthright for something as illusory as a sense of safety in a violent world.

I believe that Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Sam Adams, George Washington, and others of the time would be disappointed in us. Not surprised, perhaps, but disappointed. They fought incredible odds—and suffered enormous hardships—to wrest their independence from the most powerful country in the world, so they might forge the most incredible document in our, or anyone else’s, history. They, to their credit, believed that their ideals were worth the price of fear and hardship and danger. They would, undoubtedly, be disappointed in how soft we’ve become that some are so willing to piss it away for an empty promise of safety.