To be honest, it would be hard to attribute any of the self-effacing anti-Americanism that we are experiencing today to President Bush or his administration. Regardless of their stance on Iraq, the economy or any of the other situations that they find themselves dealing with, the pointed hatred delivered by a minority in our country toward our nation and its leaders is initiated and issued devoid of the facts in total and without foresight. Granted, the decision to pursue military action coupled with the benign economic environment, which the Bush Administration was saddled with by the previous administration, most likely brought it to the forefront but those who express their anti-American sentiment have had that feeling ingrained into their hearts and minds for years and years.

These feelings can be attributed to the general distrust of the government. In recent times, this has been fueled by the media’s coverage of the anti-war movement which targeted Lyndon Johnson’s administration of the 1960’s, the ensuing Watergate scandal, the Iran-Contra hearings and the incredible need for Bill Clinton’s administration to keep the truth from the American public with regard to the Monica Lewinski scandal and Whitewater.

In the 1960’s those who marched in protest to our government’s policies in the Asian Theater mistakenly pointed their hatred toward the members of the armed forces who were sent, in a time of the draft, to implement the policies of a self-absorbed president and his administration. They so terribly bungled the diplomatic solutions available to them in South Vietnam that defeat and massive loss of life were inevitable (it should be noted here that this is a situation where once again we were abandoned by the French). Instead of the anti-war protesters placing the blame where it was due, squarely on the shoulders of President Johnson, Secretary McNamara and General Westmoreland, who probably fed them more disinformation than the CIA fed the North Vietnamese, they wrongly placed it on the country as a whole and on those who returned home from the hell-on-earth that were the battlefields of Vietnam and, in essence, alienated them from the modern society which they helped to create and which they embraced. It took the "activists” close to three decades to find the error of their ways and that entire page in history became a black-eye that they are still trying to rectify today with the nation and those who served.

Watergate picked-up where Vietnam left off, with a paranoid president approving of clandestine techniques during a presidential election that he would have won handily regardless of the actions taken. The two-year odyssey into "what the president knew and when did he know it” was a media sacrifice of a president who, through the implementation of friendly relations with China and then the USSR, changed to course of the world diplomatically, regardless of his criminal actions. The odyssey continued through Gerald Ford’s administration and into Jimmy Carter’s term as the healing of a nation was supposed to take place.

Sadly, the healing did not take place. Those individuals who find themselves in the current day minority that espouses hatred for our country have incorporated this constant distrust of the government into the status quo. They find themselves unable to understand that with each administration comes a change in personal credibility. With this status quo in place even the most trustworthy of person would be open to the weight of a tainted past and a scrutiny of their personal motives. They initiate this hate and distrust of a person simply because of the level of success he or she has attained whether it is in politics or the private sector. With this status quo in place comes something that we as citizens of this great country should never fall prey to: class-based selective apathy.

Today the liberal and ultra-liberal community within the United States gambles with this class-based selective apathy. Hatred of our country and its leaders is fostered and employed as a political tool to gain power and influence. "Spin doctors” and their craft have become essential and even more coveted as a measure of success than an honest, straightforward, legitimate political campaign and agenda. And liberal party leaders stand idly by while a significant number of the youth of our country, their level of gullibility surpassed only by those who accepted the propaganda of the Nazi Party prior to World War II, take their under-educated and partially informed message to the streets to spread their message of hate for our country and their leaders. Rather than demand that a mass-murdering dictator who has committed genocide on his own people and waged war on his neighbors relinquish power and his weapons of mass destruction (which he now admits that he has) they choose to point their fingers of hatred towards a man who believes in family, country and a God that embraces all. The distrust and suspicion is ingrained.

We have liberal party and spiritual leaders the likes of Senator Tom Daschle from South Dakota, Nancy Pelosi from California and Jesse Jackson from wherever he feels like being from on any given day, fueling the fires of hatred by blaming the diplomatic solution’s failure in the Iraqi situation on President Bush and his administration when the fact of the matter is the United Nations as a body failed to rein in the economic greed of several countries who would have cared less if a bloodthirsty tyrant remain in power so long as their economic interests were taken care of. This from elected officials and supposed spiritual leaders as our troops head into harms way. The distrust and suspicion is fostered.

The glitterati of Hollywood are among the worst of the hate spreading narcissists. Dozens of people who get paid to act, in essence paid to pretend, abuse their popularity in order to voice their semi-educated opinion about everything from the military conflict with Iraq to abortion. Now I know that there will be many of you that will want to remind me that they have a right to their opinions and much to your surprise I agree with you. I understand that they do. Everyone has a right to an opinion. That is the beauty of this country, or one of them at least. But I find it completely irresponsible to use one’s celebrity to catapult under-educated and shortsighted opinions delivered through written and vocalized messages filled with hate. It is destructive and ignorant. Recently the lead singer for a talented country music group turned Hollywood commented while on stage in Europe that she was ashamed that President Bush was from Texas. Natalie Maines has since apologized citing the fact that the president, any president, should deserve the respect that the office commands. This apology came after a public outcry of disappointment that threatened their upcoming American concert tour. The sincerity of her apology can only be questioned. The message of distrust and hate is implemented.

In a time when the US is helping to liberate a people who have been tortured, murdered and oppressed and as our nation spearheads the fight against terrorism globally (an evil that is second to none) one would think that the people of our nation, especially those who are elected to public office, would be embracing their patriotism and that American pride would be high, instead we still find a minority of our population filled with self-centered narcissism at the expense of our president and our country.

Today it is fashionable to support the troops but hate the people who send them to their mission and that has nothing to do with patriotism or love of country. It has everything to do with being selfish. Nikita Khrushchev said that the former Soviet Union would win the cold war without firing a shot. He was wrong, they lost the Cold War and his country was dissolved. Let’s just hope that our country doesn’t become a casualty of our victory.

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA, OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications.