The Fightin’ Side Of Me
By Judson Cox (05/26/04)
In 1969 Merle Haggard wrote one of the most memorable songs of his brilliant career, “Okie From Muskogee”. It was a time of chaos in America. Our brave young men were fighting and dying in the battle against Communist expansion, while communists in America were waging war on the home front.
Groups like the Weather Underground, SDS, Yippies, SLA, Black Panthers, Vietnam Veterans Against the War and the Young Lords were bombing government buildings, killing police officers, robbing banks and taking hostages in their efforts to wage a revolution. They demonized America, and spat on our soldiers.
Haggard played the song for soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg, NC. They loved it – after years of witnessing their country degraded and their service denigrated, here was a song that celebrated the land they cared enough to die for and the way of life they loved. The song said, “We don’t burn our draft cards down on Main Street… We still wave Old Glory down at the court house,” and most importantly, “I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee.” Muskogee, small town America, represented the values these men were fighting for. Haggard had written an anthem for traditional America.
America is at war again. Again, radical groups are marching in the streets, likening our President to Hitler and championing our enemies. In 2004, however, we cannot turn to Muskogee, OK for comfort. Last week, the Justice Department ruled that the Muskogee Public School District must allow students to wear Muslim head scarves to school – although school policy bans all hats and head coverings. Even France has banned head scarves in schools due to obvious security concerns by Muslim coverings (that often cover the face and even the entire body) and because conspicuous religious symbols are in opposition to secular French culture. It is striking that the French have more respect for their cultural traditions than do we. Alexander Acosta, assistant attorney general for civil rights said, “This settlement reaffirms the principle that public schools cannot require students to check their faith at the schoolhouse door." Will this decision return the right of Christian students to say a non-denominational prayer before meals at VMI? I doubt it.
Traditional American values are being undermined one ruling at a time. Four judges in Massachusetts rule in favor of gay marriage, and thanks to the “Full Faith and Credit Clause”, gay marriage may soon be law in the entire country. One atheist complains, and a monument of the Ten Commandments in an Alabama courthouse is removed.
Christmas celebrations are being banned from public schools across the nation. One atheist doesn’t like his (Christian) daughter saying “One nation, under God”, and the entire country trembles at the aspect of one or two judges outlawing the Pledge of Allegiance. What other Muslim traditions must we accept – slavery, slaughtering infidels, honor killing, treating women as property to be abused as one wishes?
The effort not to offend any Muslim is undermining national security. Even though the 9-11 hijackers were all Muslim, all dark skinned men of Middle Eastern descent, airport security screeners are barred from employing any racial profiling. Never mind that such screening would have prevented the 9-11 attacks and saved the lives of over 3,000 people! During questioning, 9-11 Commissioner John Lehman revealed, "it was the policy (before 9-11) and I believe remains the policy today to fine airlines if they have more than two young Arab males in secondary questioning because that's discriminatory."
I hate to quote Michael Savage twice in as many columns, but it is not the enemy abroad that can defeat us, it is “the enemy within.” Contrast the Patriot Act to FDR’s actions following Pearl Harbor. FDR, the godfather of liberal Democrats ordered all Japanese Americans to internment camps! Intercepted wire communications showed that the Japanese government had many spies and terrorist-style cells imbedded within America. FDR’s actions, now widely condemned as racist, may have saved thousands of American lives. Today’s liberals claim that the Patriot Act is a greater threat to America than Islamic terrorism, and say that this is a war for oil, driven by racism. In answer, I’ll quote another Merle Haggard song, “If you don’t love it, leave it / let this song that I’m singin’ be a warnin’ / When you’re runnin’ down this country man, you’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me”!
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