Misplacing blame

There is no hope of engaging in a civil discussion between the "Blame America" crowd and the "America United" crowd, I have decided. These two schools of thought are, after all, diametrically opposed. While the latter embraces American culture, the former embraces American counter-culture. \nLately, I have realized that the counter-culturists have so little understanding of patriotism that attempting to explain a point of view even remotely pro-American is incomprehensible to them. And so I offer to the counter-culturists, hoping to illustrate how their words stab at the rest of us, an analogy in the form of the counter-culture giant and "working class hero," John Lennon: \nLennon "deserved" to be murdered by Mark David Chapman Dec. 8, 1980. Because he had become so overbearingly famous throughout his career with the most powerful band in the world, he "had it coming." Because of his radical politicizing in a country where his politics had no place, he deserved to be murdered. Because of his religiously discriminating comments about the Beatles being more popular than Jesus, he deserved to be shot dead outside his apartment. Pretty stupid, huh? \nChapman was not an agent of justice. He was a madman, and with madmen, reason is not an option. Blaming Lennon because of Chapman's evil-driven insanity is ludicrous. Does any of this sound familiar? How offensive would my comments have been to Lennon's fans Dec. 9, 1980? More so, how insensitive and cruel would those comments have been to Yoko Ono, Sean and Julian Lennon? \nWhatever number you figure, multiply it by a million, and you're not even close to the degree to which you disrespect not only the 6,000 dead and their families, but also our great country, and all those in her history who have given their lives to protect your freedom to believe the ignorant things you believe. Just as well, multiply your love and respect for Lennon's life and music. You're still not even close to the love and respect the rest of us Americans share for your great nation.