Who Is the Traitor?

I am a Mom of two lovely kids and the job of raising them is the hardest, most rewarding experience that I have ever had.  One of the toughest parts of being a Mommy is instilling the right kind of values in hopes that my children will turn out to be assets to the human race.  We are a pretty traditional household so that means loving the Lord, loving your neighbor, and loving your country (and cleaning up your dinner dishes).  Basically, be a good person!  So, when adults fall down -- as we all often do -- I inevitably get questions from my inquisitive little boy about what is going on. 

This week’s conversation was about the definition of a “traitor.”  He overheard me talking about a slanderous comment made by PA State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, about veterans who have been supporting a bill that would start the process of divorcing us from foreign oil.

For the past few weeks, vets have been cruising the nation’s heartland on a mission to make our country safer.  They left their families, jobs, and lives to get on an uncomfortable bus, going community by community in the name of ending the United States’ dangerous addition to oil provided by countries who dream of our complete destruction.  They have been greeted by cheers, admiration and appreciation all across the country -- that was until they got to Cranberry, PA. This week Metcalfe called these heroes “Benedict Arnolds” and “traitors” to their country.

This is ridiculous on a number of levels -- most notably, since everyone from the Pentagon and CIA to the National Intelligence Council has recognized climate change as a real security threat.  So Representative Metcalfe, I ask you, who is the traitor – the one who stands in the way of addressing a broadly recognized national security threat or the ones who are continuing their service by looking out for our safety. 

This one wasn’t a tough one for me to answer -- even my 6-year-old called that one.

Follow Heather Taylor-Miesle on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NRDC_AF

Comments

[S1m0n]

As a general issues, Americans of every stripe yell WAY too much about traitors and treason. It's a national pathology.