Have Americans Lost their Consciences?

Oh c'mon now, rita. Is it really true that the "history of America is nothing more than a 300-year killing spree..."? Evidence and argument, please.

Now, I don't deny that American flagwavers tend to be, say, narcissistic, bullying punks who lose sleep at night if they haven't made someone stumble, much less pursued him into an alley, beat him up, and searched his pockets for loose change. But it hardly follows that Americans' history is "nothing more than a 300-year killing spree". Consider the abuse that Pat Buchanan has brought down on hisself for opposing America's runaway militarism. Or the magazine that he and a few like him started, in part, to oppose that evil. Or how about Smedly Butler, the Marine who came to his senses, albeit relatively late in life, and who was so disgusted with his behavior that he wrote War Is A Racket?

Furthermore, it's very clear that members of the American political class and commerical class ought to be distinguished from one another in terms of their enthusiasm, or lack thereof, for brigandry. So also should flagwavers be distinguished from those Americans, e.g. Lysander Spooner and Murray Rothbard, who have had little or no sympathy for nationalism, republicanism, etc. of any kind.

FYI, the phrase "enthusiasm...for brigandry" is not meant to exclude the self-righteous fervor of Americans who call their selves "Progressives" without so much as a peppercorn's worth of intended irony.

Anyhow, your remark was a spasmodic, emotional knee jerk that was elicited with no more than Hornbergers's gentle tap with a rubber mallet. And never mind your ridiculous insinuation that Americans have never had consciences. As for the faulty consciences of some Americans about their empire: I'll bet you a firecracker for the 4th of July that you didn't know that America Is Not an Empire at all.

Zbigniew Mazurak, the deathblogger who wrote it, included a howler in the latter half just in case you weren't laughing already by then.