Are You Anti-American? Take This Quiz and Find Out!
February 11, 2003
By punpirate

1) The Constitution of the United States is:

a) An amazing achievement and a gift from America's founders.
b) Often wrongly evoked as the president's mandate to protect U.S. interests unilaterally and recklessly -- whether there is an immediate threat to our national security or not.
c) Devalued by those who would shamelessly sacrifice liberty, while disrespectfully referring to the Bill of Rights as a "suicide pact."
d) Deemed irrelevant by those who consider the framer's wisdom and vision antiquated, and feel that Congress need not declare war.
e) All of the above.

2) The Founding Fathers' prescient vision can be found in:

a) George Washington's observation that America should, "observe good faith and justice toward all nations" and should "cultivate peace and harmony with all."
b) James Madison's remarks that "the executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it."
c) Ben Franklin's statement that "even successful wars at length become misfortunes to those who unjustly commence them."
d) Thomas Jefferson's warning that, "When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."
e) All of the above.

3) Pivotal legislative moments in American History include:

a) The ratification of the U.S. Constitution, after heated debates and the inclusion of the Bill of Rights.
b) The passing of the 13th Amendment, which freed the slaves, the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed certain civil rights, and the 15th and 19th Amendments, which gave Blacks and women the right to vote.
c) The formation of the Department of Defense in 1947, after a lengthy deliberation process which included two years of Congressional hearings.
d) The passage of the PATRIOT Act and Homeland Security Act, both of which were steamrolled through the House and the Senate, without debate, and reduce government accountability, while expanding the federal police state.
e) All of the above.

4) Recently leaked draft legislation, the Domestic Security Act of 2003, shows that the Justice Department:

a) Is considering secret arrests for the first time in American history.
b) Has developed a plan to strip Americans of their citizenship (for violations citizens might not even be aware of).
c) Wants to reduce or eliminate judicial oversight, while increasing the government's power and authority.
d) May have been, as Center for Public Integrity Executive Director Chuck Lewis observed, "waiting for a war or something" to "pop this baby out and try to jam it through."
e) All of the above.

5) Since George W. Bush's inauguration:

a) There have been over 300 rollbacks in the Freedom of Information Act, giving credence to Rep. Dan Burton's concern that there is "an iron veil descending over the executive branch."
b) Government spokesperson Ari Fleischer has told Americans they need to watch what they say and watch what they do, as John Poindexter's Total Information Office becomes poised to do just that.
c) The neoconservative agenda of preemption and multiple-front wars has become America's official policy, as priests and other peace activists end up on "no-fly" lists.
d) 84% of Europeans now believe America is the greatest threat to world peace.
e) All of the above.

6) Justifications for America's involvement in wars include:

a) Unprovoked (but blatantly false) attacks by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on two US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
b) Testimony about Iraqi soldiers tossing babies out of incubators and a satellite photo showing soldiers amassed at Saudi Arabia's border. (Both lies helped to sell the Gulf War).
c) George W. Bush's references to an International Atomic Energy Agency report that Iraq is "six months away from developing a weapon" (a lie), his statement regarding unmanned Iraqi aircraft that could be used "for missions targeting the United States" (a lie), references to shipments of aluminum tubes to make nuclear weapons in Iraq (yet another lie), attempts to link Al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein (refuted by the CIA, FBI and British intelligence).
d) Colin Powell's glowing citation of Tony Blair's (plagiarized and dated) Iraq dossier and his assertion that the Islamic terrorist group Ansar al-Islam is maintaining a "terrorist chemicals and poisons factory" in northeastern Iraq. (A lie).
e) All of the above.

7) Democracies that champion America's upcoming war with in Iraq are:

a) England, where 7 out of 8 citizens disagree with military action against Iraq.
b) Australia, where the majority overwhelmingly disagrees with this war and where the Senate issued an historic no-confidence vote against Prime Minister John Howard "for sending troops to a potential war without a proper explanation to the Australian people."
c) Other countries in "new Europe," whose citizens also largely oppose this war.
d) Israel.
e) All of the above.

8) People who oppose war with Iraq include:

a) The Pope and the National Council of Churches.
b) Several veterans, retired military officers and many traditional conservatives.
c) Senior Pentagon officials who risk losing their jobs by speaking out.(As one White House source put it, "The President considers this nation to be at war, and, as such, considers any opposition to his policies to be no less than an act of treason.")
d) Three out of five U.N. Security Council members.
e) All of the above.

9) France and Germany's plan for Iraq:

a) Calls for peaceful disarmament and engages the international community.
b) Involves U.N. troops occupying Iraq to insure that Saddam doesn't play cat and mouse games with inspectors.
c) Is welcomed by China, Belgium and Russia's Vladimir Putin, who, as the BBC reports, "is on a whirlwind tour of Europe to drum up opposition to a possible US-led attack on Iraq."
d) Has infuriated U.S. officials.
e) All of the above.

10) America's contemporary patriots include:

a) Pentagon Papers patriot Daniel Ellsberg, who, in addition to unveiling sordid truths about the Vietnam War, shed light on ways the executive branch routinely lies to Congress, the Senate and the American people.
b) The Justice Department employee who leaked "the Domestic Security Act of 2003" at great personal risk.
c) Councilmen in a growing number of cities who have passed anti-war resolutions and have refused to comply with the U.S. PATRIOT Act.
d) Citizens partaking in antiwar demonstrations and other gloriously American forms of civil disobedience, such as those who've come up with their own version of the Boston tea party,
e) All of the above.

Congratulations! If you answered "e" to these questions, you're better informed than most. Although, frankly, since half of all Americans believe Iraq was involved in Sept. 11 and 87 % of college-aged students can't find Iraq on a map, it's not a monumental achievement.

Then, too, sadly, we live in a time when being informed is enough to brand you "anti-American." Don't believe the U.S. should engage in preemptive strikes? Wonder if America has the right to topple countries' leaders, install our own governments and occupy these countries for decades? Don't appreciate increases to the defense budget's already mammoth $400 billion price tag or that America is now more Empire than Republic? In other words, is "taxation without representation" getting you down?

Take heart. Though some may call you anti-American, you're not the first to feel this way.

As Thomas Jefferson reminded in the Declaration of Independence, "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it..."

Face it, these days, Thomas Jefferson (and several other Founding Fathers) would be considered anti-American, too.