It takes one to know one

Chrenkoff writes about the sweet taste of freedom and the shock of discovering that some of the free don't care or worse yet, are opposed to that freedom.

Why are so few truly appreciative of the bounty of freedom and prosperity they're sharing in? I thought to myself. Why are so many hostile to their own society and so open to the visions of the enemies of democracy and liberty? Why do so many think that the West is worse or at least no better than the "prison of the nations" that most of my fellow prisoners wanted to escape from? Sure, the West wasn't perfect - what is? - but it was a hell of a lot better than any alternatives. Idiots like Noam Chomsky who spouted their theories of moral equivalence - "sure, the Soviet Union is bad... but the United States is no better" - could only do so because they never actually had to live in societies they were comparing America to. But all this nuttiness was sadly not restricted to extremists like Chomsky; many other, softer and gentler people would equally, if not as violently, argue about the faults of their own society from a position of blissful ignorance about life in other parts of the world.

I'm sixteen years older now, and a bit wiser about the ways of the world, the politics and society. Things don't shock me anymore, but they still disappoint me. So I'm not surprised that the guys from Iraq the Model thought for a long time that the blogosphere was an exclusive domain of people of good will, and that no one in the free and democratic West could possibly support Saddam the Tyrant, or at least wish upon the long-suffering Iraqi people that they continue to suffer under bloodthirsty, mad despotism.

I'm not surprised - I've been there, too. I can tell you that you'll never be able to get rid of that bitter taste in your mouth, but it will only make you fight even harder for what's right, and appreciate your good brothers-in-arms even more.

Don't worry, Arthur. Some of us get it. And it doesn't take many of us to make it work.

Only 10% of the people fought in our war of Independence, and look where we are now.