General Petraeus, General Betrayus, and Tolerance

As I write this, Senators are questioning General David Petraeus about the situation in Iraq.

In other words, they are taking turns making speeches as the General waits with military courtesy, on the off chance that a question will come his way.

I have thought, from time to time, that one of the best proofs of American strength and durability is the way this country has endured more than two centuries of Congressional action.

The General's presence in Congress has pointed out another aspect of America.

A lot of Americans have funny-sounding names.

That's understandable, since people from many different countries came here: some of them hardly the sort that you'd want at your country club. Take "Petraeus," for example. If he'd had a nice, normal, name, like Smith or Ainsworth or Stapleton, we wouldn't see statements like this:

• "Yahoo! Answers - Why do people blame 'Betrayus', he only read the report given to him by the Bush administration?"
• " GENERAL DAVID BETRAYUS PREPARES TO KICK OFF HIS 2012 PRESIDENTIAL RUN AS THE CANDIDATE OF THE PARTY OF PERPETUAL WAR"
• "O'Reilly, Betrayus, and the Truth"
• "General Betrayus reports"
• "SHOUT-OUT to Code Pink at the Betrayus farce!!!!!!"
• "The MacMinute Café: General Betrayus"

Reacting to the allegation that these statements represented some sort of insult, the majority party in Congress acted with the swift resolve that we have learned to expect. The ruling party said that they didn't want to consider disavowing the "General Betrayus" remarks at this time. Maybe later.

I can understand why the general has been renamed "Betrayus" by the best and brightest of those who seek their vision of a tolerant, open-minded, world. General Petraeus came to Capitol Hill with facts that they don't like.

And, instead doing something childish, like closing their eyes tight, sticking their thumbs in their ears, and humming real loud, many of the philosophical leaders of this country are acting like petulant high-schoolers, and making fun of of the messenger's surname.