Alicia Ebaugh really doesn’t think much of Americans. She doesn’t seem to like our government much, but in her Sept. 11 column “Sharing fault for Sept. 11,” it is her dislike for American citizens that I find shocking. Her column gives us the usual “blame America” rhetoric regarding the Sept. 11 attacks. I would prefer to blame the racist, evil group that attacked innocent people, but maybe next week Ms. Ebaugh could tell us why the holocaust should be blamed on the Jews. We have heard this blame America argument for a while now, so it wasn’t overly surprising to see it in a college newspaper.

What did surprise me was the absolute disdain for the American people that she shows in this article. Apparently everyone in this country gets to live “sheltered, cheeseburger-eating, flag-waving American lives” where we take for granted “freedom, opportunity and a living wage.” Some of us have been lucky enough to live a sheltered life, but Ms. Ebaugh has apparently forgotten about the vast numbers of Americans that have not been so fortunate. Americans have fought and died all over this world to protect the belief that all people have the right to freedom and opportunity. Maybe the author should find a group of WWII veterans and ask them about their “sheltered, cheeseburger-eating, flag waving American lives.” Maybe she could find some immigrants to this country who risked everything for a chance to become part of this great country and ask them how much they take for granted freedom and opportunity.

But what really got Ms. Ebaugh upset about the September 11 attacks? It wasn’t the death and destruction. It wasn’t the loss of innocent lives. It was all the damn patriotism that came out of it. She says that the patriotism actually made her sick. How dare all of us cheeseburger-eating Americans show support for our country? She is upset that we all talked about what a great country we have and that we condemned the terrorists’ culture. Apparently we should have talked about what an awful country we have and how great Islamic fundamentalists are. Their mistreatment of women, complete intolerance to other religions, and use of suicide bombers to kill innocent people — why would Americans condemn a culture like that?

Finally, I have to answer Ms. Ebaugh’s question, “What exactly is it that we think makes us “the best?” Freedom, opportunity, a living wage, charity and generosity spread around the world, openness to people of any sex, race or religion, morality, fairness — the list goes on. America might not have mastered all of these qualities that make a country great, but our desire and effort toward that goal is what makes us “the best.”

Rick Lemke

Alumni