Hating the U.S.

I understand the people who hate the U.S. -- Some of them.

I understand people who hate the United States – some of them, anyway. Well over 50 years ago, I interacted regularly with people who probably hated the United States. I did not hate them. I did not despise them. For the most part, I had no personal animosity toward them. They were North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers who were doing their duty, as we did, ours, brutal as it was on both sides.

So, I understand enemies who hate America, even though I disagree with them and have engaged in mortal combat with them.

But Americans who hate America are in a different category altogether. By an accident of birth, they have had the great luck to live in a great country that has delivered more people from poverty, provided more humanitarian aid to the less fortunate, and that has created more wealth for the common man than any country in history. Yet, oblivious to their good fortunate, they repay America and its citizens with undisguised hatred. Their hatred manifests itself in many different ways. I shall confine myself to two examples.

Anti-American riots in support of intifada.

The first is the disgraceful pro-Hamas, anti-American riots that have become ubiquitous. We first saw them on college campuses and in major cities last year. We saw them again in D.C. when Prime Minister Netanyahu visited to address Congress. We saw a crowd that included what appeared to be many spoiled college-aged students, burning our flag and calling for bloody terrorism and murder – because that’s what an Intifada is – here in our country.

Here is one of them.

Credit: Sky News; Reuters

As you can see, the fool in the red shirt with the keffiyeh wrapped around his hips appears to be a young Caucasian, college-age male, maybe even a member of a fraternity. He is a nobody, but his burning of our flag is a desecration. We do not know who he is, but he clearly is identifiable. The U.S. flag he is burning is government property that was hauled down from the flagpole to be desecrated and replaced with a Palestinian flag. He clearly came prepared to burn the flag, as he is carrying a container of flammable liquid that he is squirting onto the burning flag.

One could only hope that our government would do its job and pull out all stops to identify him and his comrades, just as they did for anyone who was anywhere near the U.S. Capitol on January 6. DOJ? FBI? Where are you? Is there any reason why he and others should not be given equal treatment for destroying government property?

Alas, we now know the answer — It appears that the outnumbered police arrested 25 “demonstrators,” of whom eleven were referred to the Office of the Attorney General for possible prosecution. Of those eleven, however, it appears that the all the charges have been downgraded or dismissed. Whether fool-in-red-shirt is among them is unknown. Certainly, there has not been a pull-out-all-stops effort to identify and charge him and the others those who broke federal law by defacing and destroying federal property. So much for equal treatment under the law.

So, yes, I despise this ignorant but evil young American, with a passion that I never felt for a Vietnamese soldier looking down his rifle at me. And I equally despise our government officials who gloss over his crimes and refuse to investigate and prosecute because they fear offending pro-Hamas voters in Michigan.

And again, in Chicago with support from the President of the United States

We saw the same types again this past week in Chicago. As the Wall Street Journal reported,

On Tuesday night hundreds descended on the Israeli consulate with chants of ‘Intifada, Intifada, long live the Intifada’ and signs blaming the Democrats in Chicago for ‘genocide’ for supporting Israel against Hamas. 

And they were given cover by the President of the United States, who said, “They have a point.”

Well, they do have a point of sorts. Their point is that they support killing Americans. “Long live the Intifada” is just another call for massive murder and bloodshed on our streets.

When they shriek, “Intifada here! Intifada now!” and “Long live the Intifada!” these are not just slogans. They are calling for Americans to be massacred. No, that is too bland, too sterile. What “Intifada here” means in the real world is bodies dismembered, entrails hanging out of body cavities, blood and brain matter blown all over their friends, and worse horrors that most Americans — thankfully — cannot imagine. But when you pierce beyond the chanted words, that is what they are saying should happen in the United States. That is what an intifada is.

Here is one of the demonstrators at the DNC this past week. Take a look at him. This Chicago man-on-the-street sees nothing wrong with the crimes of October 7 (“What's wrong with October 7? You tell me.”). He also made clear that “Every Palestinian supports Hamas. Not just me. Every Palestinian.” We do not know whether this man is an American citizen or a guest in our country. But he clearly despises this country and its values. We must despise his values.

And spare me the both-sides-do-it arguments. Israel is fighting a defensive but existential war against an enemy that has sworn to wipe of off the face of the earth and that uses women and children as human shields. For its part, Hamas revels in the propaganda value of its October 7 barbarism and vows to do it again and again.

Kaepernick squawks, Nike caves.

My second example: Colin Kaepernick and Nike. Nike recently released a new model of sneakers that had a depiction of the 13-star Betsy Ross American flag.

This apparently hurt Kaepernick’s feelings. No, that is too kind. He is a grown man; his feelings were not hurt by a picture of an historical American flag. Kaepernick obviously hates America, so he called on Nike to discontinue its marketing of the patriotic shoes.

Nike caved. Its capitulation was accompanied by a mealy-mouth statement that they withdrew the shoes, at God-knows-what-cost, because it was an “old flag.” They didn’t even have enough courage to tell the truth about what they were doing.

Nike, of course, is a corporation. It acts through its human agents. We do not know who ultimately made the decision that the Betsy Ross flag was too inflammatory be on a Nike sneaker, but it is a fair conclusion that whoever that weenie is, they at least disdain, if not hate America. If anyone thinks that I have overstated that, and that Nike and its officers really love America, then let them come forward with facts to prove that. I’ll wait.

Nike’s hatred for America, or at least its willingness to accommodate hatred for America, should be disqualifying. Mine is a small voice, but I hope that it might somehow be magnified. People who love this country should not buy any Nike merchandise. I know, I know…. Your kids like the sneakers. Sit them down and explain the facts to them: We will not give money to companies that do not support our country and that affirmatively work against it.

Trustees and boards of universities, including my own West Point, should send Nike a clear message that such anti-patriotic activity will not be supported by their school. I know that schools are raking in a lot of money for their athletic programs by displaying the Nike swoosh on their uniforms, but there does come time when principal must override money. If such a precedent were set by major universities, just think of the possibilities that such a change could open.

Yes, I know – you don’t have to tell me: I am being naïve to think that such a thing could happen. You probably are right.

But you never know what will happen if courageous people begin to take a stand.