Is the right to abortion more important than Iranian terror?

The Americans, like other people, have their local bitter struggles which we don’t know much about. When it comes to economy, the Republicans and Democrats argue over the size of the government and tax rates. Republicans want smaller government and lesser taxes while Democrats want bigger government and support raising taxes on the rich.

Republicans believe that a man can build himself and achieve his dream by depending on himself and they always remind everyone that this is what made America, which became independent in 1776 and which is still a young country although it’s more than 200 years old.

They mock Democrats who want a government with the characteristics of an affectionate mother that feeds them and takes care of them from cradle to grave. They also say Democrats are secretly “socialists” who want to turn America into another France where lazy people care about nothing other than gossip in cafes, taste cheese and plan their sacred summer vacations.

Democrats also mock the Republicans and hurl accusations at them. They say that Republicans are very greedy and selfish and accuse them of benefitting from government services without benefiting others. They also say Republicans are boastful and snobbish and claim that Republicans weaved a web of lies to get wealthy when in fact rich families keep getting richer while the rest descend into poverty.

They accuse them of racism and of contempt toward minorities and black people. The Democrats view themselves as more ethical than the Republicans due to their social justice demands and suppression of corporate greed which created the financial crisis that shook the world in 2008.

American exceptionalism

Politically speaking, Republicans are hawks who believe in American exceptionalism and in America’s role as leader of the free world and as the country capable of punishing evil parties and maintaining international system which they established following World War II after the defeat of fascism and Nazism.

Unlike them, the isolationist Democrat doves do not believe in intervention and hate playing the role of the cop and protector of the global system and they doubt the rationality and morality of American exceptionalism. They ended promoting the idea of a multipolar world in order to unburden the US from the responsibility of guarding the world and its values.

On the religious level, the Republicans maintain conservative Christian values and include them in their speeches and conversations. They also believe in teaching religion in schools and including it in the curricula and abhor Darwin’s theory of evolution and the Big Bang theory. The Republicans accuse the liberals of turning universities into leftist barracks that graduate revolting students who despise America and see nothing in it except the invading power that’s stained with the blood of weak people from the Red Indians to the Iraqi people.

The Democrats, however, strongly oppose teaching religion in schools and reiterate the excuse of what religion is to be taught when students belong to different religions and sects. They strongly support science and are more preoccupied with global warming than with terrorism. They think Republicans and conservatives are merely fools who believe in myths which scientific facts debunk.

The battle rages more on the social front due to controversial issues such as abortion and same-sex and transgender marriage. Republicans oppose abortion and maintain that it’s a crime to kill the fetus as a woman has the right to kill herself but does not have the right to kill her fetus. They oppose same-sex marriage because it destroys families which are the basis of natural communities and because it violates religious values and social norms.

Democrats, on the other hand, support abortion because they believe women have the right to make decisions about their own bodies. Celebrities and media personalities who are Democrats are the biggest supporters of LGBT rights and argue about this when addressing the values of sexuality and individual freedom. They’ve made movies on these subjects and turned their symbols into legends, heroes and fighters.

This is an old dispute and increased when George Bush Jr. became president. The dispute raged during Barack Obama’s term and it has now further escalated with Donald Trump in power. Journalists, Hollywood celebrities, talk show commentators are mostly Democrats and liberals with a leftist mentality. They mock Trump because he defeated them, won the elections and humiliated their presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The most important reason behind their cruel campaign is that they oppose him regarding all the local controversial affairs we mentioned, i.e. the size of the government and its role, sexual freedoms, abortion, education and others.

Trump angers them because he does not keep silent but responds to them through his Twitter account. He describes their media as “dishonest,” “piece of garbage” and “failing” as he repeatedly described the New York Times which has been hostile to him since day one. They want to destroy him because he opposes their values, principles and dreams and don’t care about America’s role on the global arena – or rather this does not even cross their mind!

Iranian terror

Abortion, for example, is more important than halting Iranian terrorism which destroyed our countries in the Middle East. This is normal as in the end they are American people who care about their own lives and they are not Egyptians, Lebanese or Saudis.

But why do we get carried away in internal battles which we have nothing to do with and bid on the American themselves when criticizing Trump although his administration’s vision harmonizes with our interests on the two most important affairs – fighting the Iranian regime and destroying terrorist outfits? We can understand why Islamic radicals, Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of Iran hate Trump’s administration and we can see why they’ve launched a fierce war against it and falsely accuse it of hostility toward Muslims.

Their aim is to increase fanaticism because Trump’s administration is against their political and intellectual plans. The latter was the reason behind their soft speeches during the Obama administration. But why does the majority of us, from those who want to get rid of Iranian militias and ISIS groups which destroyed our countries and destabilized them and committed massacres against our children, curse him?

Why do we throw stones at those who want to punish our enemies? Do we do so because we don’t like the color of his hair or because he does not gently hold his wife’s hand, like Obama does? Or is it because we do not like his Twitter posts or because he does not know how to talk during press conferences?

It’s confusing and the only interpretation I’ve got is that we do not distinguish between internal and foreign struggles and we are easily and emotionally dragged into the battles launched by the media and politicians and participate in their partisan short-sighted battles that are against our interests on the long run. According to them, they have their logical reasons but what are our reasons?

My only interpretation is participating in the wrong battle against the wrong rival at the wrong time. Is there another interpretation? I don’t know.

This article is also available in Arabic.
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Mamdouh AlMuhaini is the Editor-in-Chief of Al Arabiya News Channel’s digital platforms. He can be followed on Twitter @malmhuain.