The President, Guns and Money
It’s that time of year again: the beginning. It arrives, so full of potential and promise with parades and bowl games, but after a while we begin to wonder what the big deal was all about. January always just seems to be an epic letdown. We all can relate. No one ever loses weight, quits smoking, or stops watching daytime TV just because the calendar flipped over. But if you can get past all the over-hyped holidays, unfulfilled resolutions and underwhelming Clark/Seacrest telecasts, there comes a wonderful, inspirational, levitating (levitating?) event that truly is worthy of our full and undivided attention. I suspect you know what I speak of - the Presidential State of the Union Address. That one awe-inspiring speech by the leader of the free world which assures us each and every year that things are…well, about like we expected before the President went and spelled it out for us like idiots. Every year I make it a point to watch. It is on every channel, after all. But I am not your average speech-watcher. In fact, I usually decide to forgo the somewhat trite and mostly futile traditional holiday season (you know, all that pretentious crap about Christmas and Kwanzaa and Hanukkah) and instead prepare myself for the biggest party of them all: January 23rd in the Senate Chambers. Political speeches are the new holidays, you know. A lot of people don’t realize how much time and effort I put into mixing copious amounts of my own secret recipe “Capitol Hill Cocktail” and whipping up a Texas-sized batch of my famous “Quorum Call Chili.”
Most years my friends and I all meet at Chili’s to watch the Address. “Why Chili’s?” you say? Must you even ask? Nine one-letter words, my friend. M-A-R-G-A-R-I-T-A. It also keeps us from playing the sometimes-fun but sometimes-deadly SOTU drinking game, in which the rules are simple: every time they stand and applaud, you take a shot. This game can become very impractical at today’s bar prices. (Seventy-six “applause pauses” add up.) And it always takes a good bit of coaxing to get the bartender to change the television station from SportsCenter, but once we convince her that Illinois Senator Barack Obama is a much sexier man than Dan Patrick, we usually get our way. This year, like usual, we ordered margaritas and placed wagers on new buzzwords as we eagerly discussed the likelihood of some new and fraudulent “CIA intelligence” being introduced to the public this time around.
The speech itself was quite interesting, if you made the effort to listen to it. War, as expected, was the main topic. (At least it was the only one that people paid attention to.) With the conflict in Iraq and public opinion of the government spinning out of control, Mr. Bush spoke of safety, security, and our place in the world. Often referring to “the terrorists,” he said that our enemies are “wicked” and act with “blind hatred.” With phrases like “ideological struggle” and “the cause of liberty” he explained that we are in a war for our very way of life, and that if we don’t have the willpower to achieve victory in this particular skirmish in Iraq, we will be putting our future and our children’s futures at serious risk.
Afterwards, of course, there were the obligatory rebuttals from the Democrats, who took issue with Mr. Bush’s policies. Some called them misguided, while others took out WWII-era photographs and tried to make a point about broken trust in government. The rhetoric on both sides was really not that polarizing-mostly patriotic truisms which, if taken at face value, most any American would agree with. But it is between the lines on the opaque teleprompter where the real conflict lies. It is the worldviews behind the partisan speeches that people really get upset about. Words like “neo-conservative,” “Democrat” and “social progressive” represent ideas that make people in this country do crazy things like place hideous campaign signs in their front yards and produce nasty commercials that interrupt things we really want to see, like “Dancing with the Stars” or “American Idol.” Then there’s all this talk about war.
War, in America, is a political issue. It’s not like the rest of the world, where it is an issue of basic survival. I can’t speak for you, my friend, but I know that I’m not kept awake at night wondering whether the Janjaweed will raid my village tonight or if the Sunnis are planning to bomb the neighborhood grocer because he is a Shiite or Kurd. Things like that just don’t happen in this country. We know nothing of war. And we know nothing of true evil. While the “Axis of Evil” may be a catchy phrase for a bunch of crazed dictators who, in all fairness, should probably be deposed ASAP, I don’t think is quite appropriate to classify them as “evil,” and the United States as somehow inherently “good.” I don’t happen to believe that people who hate us have cornered the market on evil itself.
Posted on January 29, 2007 12:00 AM
Comments
mark, i think your brothers to the north (us Canadians) would tend to agree with you. in fact, it is very refreshing and envigorating to read your political viewpoints and to see that they contain something a lot of Americans (who I know personally) are lacking: a critical eye. I say this from experience - my mom was born in Chicago and I have about 15 American aunts, uncles and cousins whom I see regularly. I find that (within the older generations in my American relatives) there is this blinded/skewed thought process just as you described - a 'glorifying of the United States of America as God?s favorite political unit'. It almost gets the point where I've personally seen my aunts and uncles sing 'God bless America' (especially throughout 9/11) that pits the U.S.A in a better spot than God - and these are Christian relatives, some even PASTORS! it's as if it's more important for God to BLESS America and for it to be endowed than to recognize the power of God and where the blessing is coming from. ya know?
anyways, sorry if this seemed like generalizing in any way. I love the U.S. I love my cousins, aunts and some uncles (ha!). I love Chicago, Saint Augustine, Florida and NYC. I just hate ignorance.
Keep the passion alive, dude!
Sincerely,
Matty
Posted by: MATT MCKECHNIE | January 29, 2007 6:20 PM
God created the world, not the united states.
Posted by: Sara | January 30, 2007 7:28 PM
I would agree. Too many times we get carried away with America being "God's blessed country" (which is truly B.S.). We do need to remember that we have been blessed. Being born in a country of opportunity, it is our choice to do our job and help the unfortunate, or bury our gifts in the ground to rot?
Posted by: david ham | January 31, 2007 10:18 AM
"Evil is universal." - Truer words were never spoken Mr. Peterson. That potential is there in all human beings. An excellent article all-around.
It is also true, I believe, that humans have a tendency towards "moral superiority," or the justifications of our actions in the face of morality (which can be based from the Bible, Koran, or numerous other sources of "moral teachings"). This being said, the potential for taking the moral high ground on political topics is inherent in every culture and country. I have lived abroad for many years of my life and it is obvious that each people have a form of national or cultural pride in something. This can be a good thing and a bad thing.
I am an american. I am a christian. I am not ultra-patriotic. Nor am I anti-patriotism. But it is clear, as stated in the article, that believing that your country is "morally better" because you?ve been "specially blessed" by God can lead to a blind train of thought where nobody does any critisizing or self examing of motives etc. Sadly, that has happened to some American Christians. Wrap the cross in the flag. Of couse God wrapped the sin of the world on the cross in the form of his Son. I have a hard time dealing with ultra-patriotic evangelicals (or whatever you want to call them) as well, but I know that this mentality exists in all parts of the world and so I try my best not to judge or think self-depricatingly of being an american. It is all too popular a sentiment to America-bash nowadays. Instead, I hope that Jesus can help me shed the light on the human condition that is in all of us...that is trying to justify ourselves to God...and hopefully we can trust in the grace enough to know that we don?t have too. That would be a good thing for us, including our slightly self rightous ultra-partiot brothers and sisters to examine.
Posted by: Dan P | February 1, 2007 8:14 AM
Thanks for your insights, Dan. I agree that it is a universal human fault to see ourselves as morally superior to other cultures. I suppose I focused on America because, well, it's where I live. I don't think many people who read BWC would disagree that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a slightly distorted view of his own culture's superiority, but I've personally had many conversations with people who truly believe that the USA is better than the rest of the world because of our (questionable) reputation as a "Christian" nation. So I'm sorry if it seemed like I was America-bashing. I'm not trying to put down my home country, just maybe trying to put it back in its place - planet earth. Maybe next time I'll take on Canada (sorry Matty) because, come on, who do they think they're kidding? Nobody can be THAT friendly. They've got to be hiding something.
Posted by: Mark Petterson | February 1, 2007 12:58 PM
you really think that you are no better than a terrorist who is responsible for committing murder? that is morally insane. christianity has such a low view of humans. i do agree with you that usa is not better than every other nation becasue we are a christian nation. i would rather say that we are better than every other nation because of the extent it is a capitalist nation.
Posted by: jc | February 3, 2007 5:03 PM
I suppose you're right. I do have a pretty low view of humans, especially myself. But I disagree with your characterization of the USA as a superior nation merely because we are capitalist. Personally I think we're better than everyone else because we've got NASCAR. Take that, France.
Posted by: Mark Petterson | February 6, 2007 7:42 PM
Hippie. Fred sent me the article. Pretty good. It will come as no surprise that I have a couple of thoughts.
The USA is morally superior to many if not most nations. The reason is simple. Freedom. Remembering our flaws, our hypocrisy, etc.. may diminish but does not eliminate the fact that we enjoy more freedom in the country than any nation in the history of the world.
We are also a God blessed nation. You know the history. God established our borders. This does not mean we have not fallen from that lofty perch, but the facts are still the facts.
Evil. The primary difference between you and a terrorist is the you don't ACT on your internal evil. I agree that the capacity for great evil resides in all (scripture). Acting on that evil, whether blindly or with forethought, is what seperates.
Arrogance is another issue. Displayed as a feeling of superiority is grating I agree. It seems to me that there are only three categories of people, sinners, sinners saved by grace and pharisees (sp). The most difficult at times are the pharisees. It may seem trite but we may not be perfect but we are still the best option (corrupt, selfish leadership not withstanding).
Posted by: Jack Kynion II | February 8, 2007 6:22 AM
He who is not a liberal at 20 has no heart. He who is not a conservative at 40 has no brain.
- Winston Churchill
Now, I'm not quite twenty and you're not quite forty, but I think we're both on the correct path for our demographic. Thanks for the kind words by the way; I'm glad you got to read it.
Posted by: Mark Petterson | February 10, 2007 10:54 PM
Thanks for a great article. Great insight. The humility and humor that it is written with is much appreciated. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Jesse Renaud | February 11, 2007 6:03 PM
Hey man, interesting essay. The entire piece was written even-handedly, straight from the soul. You know I don't agree with you on some things, but I thought your piece tackled some serious problems with our society. It's the solution that's going to be the real problem though. Now, all you have to do is convince your Brothers that what you're saying is true. Oh, and it's about time that you put that WU education to use...
Posted by: Dave Zeigler | February 12, 2007 7:16 PM