I watched "Now, with Bill Moyers" on Channel 9 last night after watching the special on Mr. Rogers. I really like the Bill Moyers show because it provides that rare treat these days of watching a news/current events program that doesn't try to feed me a load of crap, but tells me the things I really need to know. Last night's program consisted of a discussion with Nat Hentoff about the erosion of our civil liberties, another discussion with Joseph C. Wilson, a former ambassador and Presidential Advisor who says that trying to establish democracy in Iraq after a presumable successful war will be a can of worms far more slimy and tangled that the Bush Administration conceives of, and a personal statement by Bill Moyers which I think should be printed, framed, and hung on the wall. It should also be read aloud three times a day by anyone tempted to call someone who disagrees with government policy "un-American." I don't know if these shows are archived, so I'll post the statement in its entirety.

I wore my flag tonight. First time. Until now I haven't thought it necessary to display a little metallic icon of patriotism for everyone to see. It was enough to vote, pay my taxes, perform my civic duties, speak my mind, and do my best to raise our kids to be good Americans.

Sometimes I would offer a small prayer of gratitude that I had been born in a country whose institutions sustained me, whose armed forces protected me, and whose ideals inspired me; I offered my heart's affections in return. It no more occurred to me to flaunt the flag on my chest than it did to pin my mother's picture on my lapel to prove her son's love. Mother knew where I stood; so does my country. I even tuck a valentine in my tax returns on April 15.

So what's this doing here? Well, I put it on to take it back. The flag's been hijacked and turned into a logo — the trademark of a monopoly on patriotism. On those Sunday morning talk shows, official chests appear adorned with the flag as if it is the good housekeeping seal of approval. During the State of the Union, did you notice Bush and Cheney wearing the flag? How come? No administration's patriotism is ever in doubt, only its policies. And the flag bestows no immunity from error. When I see flags sprouting on official lapels, I think of the time in China when I saw Mao's little red book on every official's desk, omnipresent and unread.

But more galling than anything are all those moralistic ideologues in Washington sporting the flag in their lapels while writing books and running Web sites and publishing magazines attacking dissenters as un-American. They are people whose ardor for war grows disproportionately to their distance from the fighting. They're in the same league as those swarms of corporate lobbyists wearing flags and prowling Capitol Hill for tax breaks even as they call for more spending on war.

So I put this on as a modest riposte to men with flags in their lapels who shoot missiles from the safety of Washington think tanks, or argue that sacrifice is good as long as they don't have to make it, or approve of bribing governments to join the coalition of the willing (after they first stash the cash.) I put it on to remind myself that not every patriot thinks we should do to the people of Baghdad what Bin Laden did to us. The flag belongs to the country, not to the government. And it reminds me that it's not un-American to think that war — except in self-defense — is a failure of moral imagination, political nerve, and diplomacy. Come to think of it, standing up to your government can mean standing up for your country.

What do you think?   
                                                                                                                                                    --Bill Moyers

Here is a TRANSCRIPT of the interview with Nat Hentoff.

Also, well worth reading is this TIMELINE of historical assaults on civil liberties.

Don Firth