Things on the internet took yet another disappointing and shocking turn this past week when many TikTok-using, younger Americans discovered an old copy of Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America” in the Guardian (the letter has since been taken down), and found that they agreed with some of bin Laden’s rhetoric. Country star Lee Greenwood used an appearance on Fox News to push back on what they were saying about the letter, reminding them of the importance of patriotism.
That came when Greenwood, best known for his song “God Bless the U.S.A.,” appeared on “The Ingraham Angle” before the Thursday FOX Nation Patriot Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, and gave host Laura Ingraham a signed book containing the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Pledge of Allegiance, and Bill of Rights.
As background, the discussion surrounding the bin Laden manifesto came when pro-Palestinian activist Lynette Adkins urged her nearly 200,000 followers on TikTok to read bin Laden’s letter, saying, “I need everyone to stop what they’re doing right now and go read- It’s literally two pages. Go read ‘A Letter to America. And please come back here and just let me know what you think because I feel like I’m going through, like, an existential crisis right now and a lot of people are, so I just need someone else to be feeling this.” Her pro-Palestine followers did so and then quickly started posting reaction videos agreeing with it, angering many on the right.
Speaking about that letter when Laura Ingraham asked about his thoughts on the rhetoric in the letter and the spreading of it by the pro-Palestine TikTok star, told her, “I got an answer for you. It’s family, God and country,”
Greenwood then used the incident to speak about patriotism and why standing up for America and the values it represents is so important, saying, “The thing is, if we just believe in America like we’ve never believed in her – she stands for freedom and for the world.”
Continuing, Greenwood added “When you talk about the word ‘patriot’ in the dictionary, it says love and devotion and a sense of attraction for your country and satisfaction. So there are people who do volunteerism and for sacrifice. And it’s all about sacrificing for our country now.”
Watch Greenwood here:
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Adkins, in a statement to Fox News on sharing the letter and why she did so, said, “I did not share the letter to promote any form of hate or violence against anyone, nor do I agree with the extremism in it. I was just shocked by what I had read & wanted to have a conversation about it with my followers. I was 3 in 2001, and was always taught 9/11 happened because other people were jealous of our democracy in the US. Now that I’m older & am able to learn about history beyond the narrative of mainstream media, I’m realizing that there is more to the story. I think we all deserve a right to access the information being presented to us & form our own conclusions without subscribing to extreme or radical ideologies.”
Adkins continued, “The letter was taken off of the Guardian’s site after being on there for over 20 years. My Tiktok was banned as of this morning, & many people who are sharing the letter are getting their videos removed as well. If we live in a true democracy, I think we should be allowed to have open & peaceful conversations about what’s happening in the world.”
Featured image credit: By Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53786700