It’s hard to be patriotic

At a traditional dinner, we “broke fast” at our friend’s home recently at the conclusion of the Yom Kippur holiday. Sitting with this observant Jewish family whose children were home from college, we opened the dialogue on the elections and the candidates we supported.  To no surprise, the youth’s choice was Obama. When asked why, their remarks were just reprocessed regurgitation of commonly held positions on the economy and “change” with a general disregard for the current administration and the direction of the country. One of the young adults seated at the table responded with a disturbing but ever-present comment resonating from the masses of students that attend the liberal breeding grounds our college campuses have become: “It’s hard to be patriotic.” I was upset to hear his disturbing but honest remark, and realized that the fashion statement students make today exhibit irreverence and disdain for our country. I found it hard to believe that this diluted regard for our country came from this young man that I’ve seen grow up. The son of a Brooklyn native and self-made successful technology entrepreneur, the grandson of grandparents who survived Auschwitz and who were later saved by this country, this young man who was a student that attended private Jewish day schools and learned to support Israel, the country he loves and would fight for, if threatened, found it difficult to express a favorable view of his country openly on campus.

I then asked this young man what he thought of the Obama-Ayers associations; William Ayers the founder and leader of “the Weather Underground,” a U.S.-based terrorist organization in the ’60s that was responsible for several bombings, including the Pentagon, the Capitol, bank robberies and several people being killed during their rampage. Obama chaired the educational organization that Ayers founded to teach radicalism to the youth of America. He held the position for six years. Obama launched his political career at a party held in Ayers living room. On 9/11/01, Ayers was quoted as saying that he did not regret bombing the Pentagon and was unrepentant. The student had not heard of Ayers.  We discussed Obama’s connection to Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Farrakhan, both outspoken anti-American and anti-semitic demagogues, and the significant relationship Wright maintained with Obama for over 20 years. He responded with little connection to or knowledge of either figure.

I also asked if he had ever heard of Obama’s link to Dr. Khalid Al Mansour, adviser to a powerful Saudi family, mentor and supporter of the Black Panthers and another outspoken hater of Israel and the US. He didn’t know that Mansour requested Percy Sutton, a NYC public figure, to write a letter of recommendation for Obama’s acceptance to Harvard Law School, coupled with the theory that Mansour’s employers secretly financed his education at Harvard. He did not know of either person.

What about Obama’s early childhood Muslim education in an Indonesian school? Did he ever hear about his connection to a radical professor at Columbia who held a fundraiser for Obama, Khalidi Rashidi, the PLO adviser and promoter of anti-Israeli influence? Nope, never heard of him.

This lack of information is partly due to a deliberate attempt by the liberal media to limit or omit reports about these significant relationships in Obama’s past and the commonality of these anti-American personalities. It has created this mass appeal, a “no fault” approval and favorable opinion held by the majority of youths because a void exists in reporting which results in suppression of important knowledge. It has nothing to do with being a Democrat or Republican or Independent, but has everything to do with being anti-American. Unfortunately, that has become more acceptable than being patriotic and supporting the philosophy and values that previous American generations have admired and maintained.

The Obama candidacy has the potential to represent these anti-American influences here and abroad and will transform this generation and country into one that supports the philosophy and values of his previous relationships in Ayers, Wright, Farrakhan, Mansour, Rashidi, Resko, radicalism and Islam. That representation and history of associations should be cause for alarm and should be a red light to hold off any support to anyone who has these longstanding and conflicting relationships with America and who has aspirations to hold the highest office of the land, supreme commander of the allied powers and the leader of the free world.

– Charlie Runstrum

Class of ’88