I often wonder what it's like to live in the simplistic black-and-white world of your typical Republican bobblehead. Are their brains truly this unable to process nuance? Take, for example, Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) who is only too happy to categorize (with host Bob Schieffer's enabling, bless his Republican-loving little heart) Barack Obama as unpatriotic. Why? Because at his speech in Germany, he acknowledged that there have been errors in America's foreign policy.
SCHIEFFER: Well, that sounds like you’re saying that he’s somehow unpatriotic, which seemed to be the underlying theme of what she said yesterday, Congresswoman.
WILSON: Well, he has talked down about America and you know, we’ve always had this history of saying, well, politics ends at the waters’ edge. And it didn’t for Barack Obama. He’s been critical, not only of the President, but of American policy and has kind of a negative view of the American world. That’s not unusual, frankly, among liberals in kind of post-Vietnam America to say that America is the problem. I think Sarah Palin believes that America is part of the solution. We are an exceptional country, we are a force for good and we need to talk about the good things we do.
Sigh. Look, I love my kids more than life itself. I think they are incredible, beautiful, smart children that make me proud to be their mom everyday. But even that primal, ferocious love I have for my kids doesn't prevent me from seeing that they are also impatient, impulsive and occasionally bratty. It doesn't blind me to their failings and I'm not a terrible mother if I acknowledge the areas in which they could improve when they have done wrong.
But apparently, in Heather Wilson's (and Bob Schieffer, let's not forget he is the one framing this as such) world, what I should do is let my kids be monsters outside the house and then ignore others who suggest that they could exercise restraint, blaming them for not recognizing their inherent goodness.
Tell me, how is that acting in their best interests? And this is what Heather Wilson thinks the President ought to do on a national scale?
