I have long believed it is perfectly patriotic to weep and gnash teeth about what all is wrong with one's government and society. Barbara Ehrenreich, working off the wisdom of Brit Samuel Johnson, is said to have said, "No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots." If the above quote is so, and I think it is, then David Michael Green has surely done his duty. His Happy Anniversary, America! How Lethally Stupid Can One Country Be? is angry and accurate. Here's the money quote:Without question, it helps an awful lot - if you're just Joe Sixpack, out there trying to figure out international politics in-between a long day's work, helping the kids with their algebra homework, and the Yankee game - to have a checking-and-balancing Congress, a responsible opposition party, and/or a critical media helping you to understand the issues accurately, rather than gleefully capitulating to executive power at every opportunity. But that by no means excuses a public who were fundamentally far more lazy than they were ignorant or confused.Ouch! I recalled with my dearest recently how we watched that first debate between Al Gore and Dubyah way back in 2000. We remembered how we felt like Al Gore simply crushed Bu$h. She reminded me of her saying she sort of felt sorry for him as it was so apparent he was in way over his head. And yet the American public, with a little help from the Supreme Court and ..., managed to choose Bu$hCo twice. Selling war to a citizenry that had bought the Bu$hCo brand was just too easy.
Professor Green is right to suggest many in Congress, some in the Democratic Party, and much of the media shares the blame yet I can accept him putting a good portion of the responsibility squarely on the American citizenry. I doubt it will get much better unfortunately and yet I'll do my part to create positive change. That's what patriotism requires after all. John Gunn
No comments:
Post a Comment