“They Hate Us For Our Freedom”

You know, recent events have led me to reconsider my unrelenting ridicule of this statement. Yes, the intention behind Duh-bya’s utterance is ludicrous; what he means to imply by it is that “they” attacked us because of our freedom. They attacked us because of our policies (or perceived policies) in the Middle East, goaded on by a self-appointed, power-hungry psychopath eager to exploit their frustration by directing it at a convenient scapegoat.

But you know, there might be a shred of truth to the statement itself, if taken at face value. And this week’s election has driven that home. Because right here in America, we have what some experts have estimated as fully a third of the population who quite explicitly hates us for our freedom.

Yes, they’re morons. When the evolution vs. creation debate is still being fought, we’re obviously dealing with a bunch of mental midgets (with all due apologies to little people for the analogy).

Yes, they’re fighting, fundamentally, because they’re afraid they — or, more likely, their progeny — might turn out to be homosexual, or liberal, or religiously skeptical, or something similarly unspeakable, if they dared to actually open their minds and think.

But none of that changes the fact that they do hate us.

And I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Is it possible? Eventually, perhaps. But the group most able to take action to quell religious hatred of freedom — as demonstrated by its efforts to do exactly that in the Middle East — is the group that most benefits by keeping that idiotic hatred alive. This is its “base.” The GOP’s interests are best served by keeping the culture war alive, keeping the majority of America stupid.

When faced with the undeniable evidence that a group of uneducated, functionally illiterate religious extremists right here at home can hate us “for our freedom,” is it such a stretch to imagine that an equally benighted bunch overseas could do the same?

I don’t think so.