It was, without doubt, hyperbole - with an earnest purpose.
Scanning my e-mail inbox Tuesday morning, I was pleased. Responses were running about 50-50. For every e-mail calling me commie scum, another endorsed the moral point, including a couple from Catholic priests.
Then Rush gave my piece a dramatic reading on his Tuesday show. His intent was not to praise my Swiftian panache. He urged his listeners to let me know what a rotten person I am.
My computer screen soon filled with missives with angry exclamation points in the subject line.
I will say this: Rush's listeners have a zest for insult and invective. Correct spelling, not so much. Also, I'm unclear what my sexual orientation (hetero, by the way) has to do with this topic. Wishing death on someone you've never met is unkind, to a degree. And telling someone to move to another country stopped being a witty riposte somewhere around 1967.
On Wednesday, this column "blew up" on the Internet, as the saying goes. It was posted, usually with harsh words, to Drudge and other Web sites. The e-mails ran into the thousands. Some were complimentary; some were critical but very thoughtful. I thank the writers of each type. Many were just plain nasty, in predictable ways.
After a few days spent being called a traitor, several observations:
Just seven years ago, who would have ever thought that being against torture could prove so controversial? When did the running of Turkish prisons become an integral part of the American Way?
Will we ever move beyond this dead-end view: If you criticize America on some point, you are unpatriotic, and can't possibly love or honor your country?
