As Margaret Cho continues to be wrong on just about everything, today on her blog she is complaining that her favorite Lebanese restaurant has two big American Flags outside flanking the door. To her, it is "unAmerican":
It struck me as enormously sad, somehow tragic and awkward. Had something happened that would make the flags, the statement, necessary? Had this Middle Eastern eatery become the target of misplaced anger at the situation in the Middle East? Or were the flags put up in order to deflect racial tension, as if to brace for the worst, akin to Floridians nailing boards over their windows before the hurricanes hit. Were people dumb enough to actually vent their frustration at Iraq on a restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley? I am sure that they are, and that makes me sick and cynical.
Humn, I guess it doesn't occur to Cho that perhaps the owners of this eatery are PROFOUNDLY patriotic? Of course, not, because in the liberal handbook, being patriot means marching against your government, not putting out flags. I don't know why this eatery put flags on it's doors -but Cho's knee jerk reaction to it is typical. Living in Detroit, I see lots of flags on Arab owned businesses, and I'm glad to see it. Given the choice (which I am many times a day)- I'm gonna go to the gas station with the flag flying. And, please no comments about that being racist, because in Detroit, at least 80 percent of all gas stations are owned by someone of Arab decent. That shouldn't be surprising since we have the largest ME population in the US.
More Cho:
What do they think that American is anyway? If America is for Americans, then we must remember America as being every thingt hat lies between its borders. Nothing can be thrown out because in our philosophical underpinnings nothing is exempt. America is free, America is brave. But having to remind others of your American status, fear of being connected to the enemy because of ancestral ties, the threat so prevalent that it makes you put not one but two giant flags outside is not right. It shows how deeply un-American America has become.
I don't think it's "un-American" to expect to see a bit of loyalty to one's country - however that loyalty might be expressed. If I saw a business flying a Syrian flag, I might fear -perhaps- the owner is connected to "the enemy." If I saw an Arab kid walking down the street wearing an OSL t-shirt ... I might think - perhaps - they are connected to "the enemy." And, if I was a foreigner who had MOVED to another country (assumedly) for a better life- I think that I would be pretty gung-ho patriotic for my new home. I might- perhaps - fly two flags on my door, to insure that everyone knew that I loved my new home, and didn't support people (from my ancestral home) who would like to see us inside of a big mushroom cloud.
We have allowed racist and alarmist attitudes to take us hostage, and if these impulses are not kept in check they will behead us all.
Nice use of the term "behead" ... but it might just be a mighty big leap from a restaurant owner putting out flags, to the fascist society that Cho imagines we are becoming.
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