Three years after 9/11 and nearing the first Presidential election since then makes people pretty damn nationalistic. Everyone has their own analogy based upon the postfix, “That’s what makes this country great…” And usually, it’s some comparison that they ripped off of some morning AM radio show on the drive in. Or they got it from an even better source; something more fair and balanced.
And I love it when people talk about something being an American tradition, especially in the age of post 9/11 blabber-shite where everyone seems to know everything about world politics, the delicate balance of power, and military strategy. It’s even more fitting when they lack the basic understanding of the region, the people, and history.
The fact is that Americans lack a basic understanding and knowledge of the history of their own country. Democracy is not an American tradition. Freedom is not an American tradition. A tradition is not something that develops in less than a half century. It takes hundreds of years for traditions to grow and develop within the people that support it. Slavery is an American tradition. Denying women and blacks the right to vote was an American tradition until recently. We’re still not living in a democratic society where everyone is created and treated equally.
I watch “Meet The Press” with Tim Russert and I love it. There. I said it. I can still be young and hip and enjoy the Sunday afternoon Washington melodrama. Yesterday, I was both entertained and embarassed at the same time. Jim DeMint and Inez Tennenbaum, both of whom are running for US Senate from SC, entertained me with their amateur backwoods South Cackalack debate skills. I was embarassed because they were representing South Cackalack on a nationally broadcasted show. Jim DeMint refused to acknowledge his own recent statements about allowing gays and single mothers to teach in public schools. What?? Gays can’t get equal rights under the law and now they can’t teach in public schools? I’d hate for kids to get a little dose of diversity and understanding from an early age. Maybe that’s what we needed all along in this American tradition that seems to be so full of things that we would rather not acknowledge.
Nationalistic rhetoric fills me with an acrimonious spirit, if you could not already discern. I get caustic when I hear people talk about America as this grandiose place that’s been so great for a long, long time. New Zealand. That’s where we should all go.