Then the program dug a little deeper, interviewing other people who were part of this movement. One woman was asked what she didn't like about President Obama. She responded with this statement: I don't think I've ever heard him say anything positive about the United States.
I listen to or read news many hours a day. I've heard the passionate arguments of either side on so many debates. But this statement -- I don't think I've ever heard him say anything positive about the United States -- really frightened me. Why? It was so divorced from reality as to make me realize that there was no possibility of having a logical conversation with people. Think about it: I don't think I've ever heard him say anything positive about the United States. Is it even conceivable that a candidate could win the election without saying anything positive about the US? Even an election for town council? Is it even possible that someone could hear Obama's inauguration speech and still believe this is true? Is it even possibly sane to consider Obama's Nobel Prize Speech and still believe this?
Of course it isn't. Which is what makes it so scary. In order to be seen as being positive about this country, what tea baggers believe is that you must never question or never criticize it. Ironic, isn't it, since the tea baggers prime motive seems to be to tear down the federal government. And they are the ones who are telling us that to be fully patriotic means that you must never doubt whether or not your country is right. Unless, of course, the leader of the opposing party is president. Then all bets are off: tea baggers can scream and shout down and threaten to leave the union -- the very definition of unpatriotic.
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