Eulogy for an America Lost

Once upon a time, there was a country that also called itself the United States of America. This country prided itself upon the many virtues it espoused. There were such things as tolerance, freedom of religion (including the right to not have one at all), speech and supposedly no pressure to conform to a homogeneous society - individualism was encouraged (i. e. the frontier spirit that had helped achieve the “Manifest Destiny”).

Having grown up in the Midwest (1947 to 1971) and then becoming an ex pat of sorts, I still have many fond memories of that time and place. During many visits and reading regularly papers and magazines out of the US, I've come to realize that that America I thought to know, the one that was my home, was an America that I knew, but no longer exists for me. My old America had a lot of discrimination and intolerance, but they were different than today's America. And a lot of the very standards that America espoused (freedom, liberty, civil rights and especially human rights) were an example and a beacon for the rest of the world. Now America seems to have become a land of expediency.

Speaking of presidents, when a president was chosen, he was to be smart, clever and the best possible to lead the nation. His school grades may have been always the best, but the cause was usually just laziness and immaturity. He was expected to lead the nation, the whole, and not just “his” electorate. He was the president of the United States of America, all Americans, not just those who shared his purported beliefs. When he addressed the nation or represented it in the rest of the world, his language was clear and eloquent. English teachers wouldn't constantly cringe, upon hearing the next day their students exclaiming “but teacher, the president talks like that too”. (And in my America, you wouldn't have the president, senators, newscasters and others referring to that ”guy”. A civilized culture had gentle-persons.) A true leader stands above his people and shows them the new direction, not huddling among them as one of their own in a mob. A true uniter also listens to his people, all the people, not just a gaggle of fawning advisers that only tell him what he wants to hear no matter how estranged from the actual reality it might be. When he meets the electorate, his audiences aren't pre-vetted and pre-oathed and he has the courage to honestly listen to dissent.

And when it came to patriotism, he usually could lead through the example of his youth. Teddy led the charge of San Juan Hill, Ike saved the world for democracy, JFK had PT-109, Dick served in the USN, Daddy Bush (good old #41) got shot down in the Pacific and Jimmy patrolled the oceans deep with a Boomer to keep the Soviets at bay (and they actually had WMDs!). Today you have the bullhorn, the flight suit, the swagger, the posturing and a sterling record of heroic bellowing of “as your Commander-in-Chief.” Costumes (uniforms), body language and gestures are great in a play, and as the great Bard noted, “all the world is but a stage and we actors upon it”, but in real life, in real wars, the uniform is not a replacement for the backbone and brains that makes the real hero/leader.

Speaking of religion, when I went to Catholic school, there ,as well as in others denominations, when one spoke of Christianity and Jesus, one usually had the new Testament in mind. That part about turning the other cheek, meekness, forgiveness, charity and rendering unto Caesar..., i. e. religion was something private that wasn't worn constantly by most people on their sleeve. When JFK was running for the presidency, there where claims that the Vatican would be running the country and that violated the separation of Church and State. Now we had the sordid scene of a Methodist candidate (and just by accident already a president running for re-election) visiting the Pope to get help in defeating his opponent. What would Washington (farewell address) and Monroe (of the Monroe Doctrine) have said to that I wonder. Wouldn't that have been foreign interference in internal American affairs?

Now we are confronted with an America that talks about Christianity and Jesus constantly, yet it seems that for them only the Old Testament exists. And everyone talks about the 10 Commandments. The Robertsons and Falwells are good examples of people who constantly seem to know what God wants. Yet, what about the very First Commandment? They dare to know God's thoughts? That they are not punished by a lightning bolt for everyone of their constant nonsensical remakes, some atheists could construe as a proof that there is no God or that, at best, He has infinite patience with his immature creations (or pity?). In fact, in civilized Europe, most countries have so-called hate laws that would put these “gentlemen-guys” in jail for some of their more outrageous remarks. (Yes, Mr. Robertson, what about your Chavez remark and your beloved Fifth Commandment, the remarks about New Orleans-Katrina and the Dover county evolution decision etc.). Perhaps their reaction to the Muslim world is tempered by the fact that they, too, are radical fundamentalists that would turn back the clock (to the puritan Pilgrims and the Salem witch hunts?) and create a society as equally repressive towards people of a different opinion than those of our opponents.

Speaking of the Law and the Constitution, it pains me to hear the arguments presented by some of the sitting and recently confirmed Justices. Their talk about a rigorous interpretation of the Constitution and that foreign law should not be considered in decisions. Weren't the “Founding Fathers” children of over a millennium of European thought and civilization, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment? Many of them were respected in the Europe of their day as thinkers of depth that contributed to the “western civilized thought”. Was the constitution created in a room devoid of anything else, or as the French declaration of human rights, an ongoing philosophical process that still continues to this day. The only really “native” contribution was the Founding Fathers consideration of the Iroquois Confederation model (in the vein of a sort of noble savage model), and that influenced their debate about the constitution. Yet no “native (truly native) American has been nominated to the highest court. If these gentlemen (guys?) really believe what they say and what some have said during their confirmations hearings, then truly they are midgets on the shoulders of giants.

One could continue on and on, but to what avail. In only one aspect I would agree partially with the reigning Bush, that God should (bless) save America. Then things are so bad that, if He exists, only He can still save America from the hypocrisy of all the false prophets and their calls for actions in His name. Preaching Jesus and spreading intolerance and even sometimes hate. As the great German poet, Harry Heine noted, hypocrisy and religion are twins that cannot be told apart. In the America of today the twins are alive and trucking.