Re: Unamerican

AcadonBot wrote:
> For one American to call another
> person "unAmerican" has nothing to do IMO with that person
> not being a US citizen, it is closer to saying that he IS in fact a
> US citizen -- but a traitor to either the nation or its ideals.
Right, a person who's not a US citizen is just non-American or foreign.
Traitor comes pretty close, but for me it's specifically "traitor to the
ideals of the nation".  America is, after all, a nation founded on
ideals, which is probably why un-American has that feel to it.  Most
other nations weren't founded on any kind of ideal, but just sort of
"grew".

> But it
> is sometimes turned around (partly in jest) to insult "right-wingers"
I don't think that there's any jest to that use.  It's just that, to
leftists, rightists seem to be betraying the ideals of the US.

> Of course there are USA chauvanists (as in other nations)
> and many tend to be "right wing." But IMO they would use
> other insults, not "unAmerican," to attack any foreign persons
> or groups that they wanted to denegrate.
Such as "illegals".

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