Linette and I celebrated Memorial Day as the great patriots that we are. We slept through our local parade and then spent the rest of the day drinking Mexican beer (Tecate), eating Indian food (tandoori chicken made by our friend Arun), discussing eastern religion, and bitching about the Bush administration. There wasnt much in the way of flag waving or jingoism. I did see a few kids eating hotdogs, but thats as close as we came to reaching the conservative ideal.
I will deny it if you tell anyone this, but we even talked to a Canadian woman about French cheese… It just doesnt get much worse than that.
To borrow a phrase from MM.com reader Chelsea Lowe, were about as patriotic as a box of kosher salt.
I dont have time to get into it all here, but I find all of this very sad. After all, my ancestors fought in several wars for this country and Id like to be able to acknowledge and celebrate what they and others have repeatedly done in the name of freedom, justice and democracy. Unfortunately, its hard for me to muster much patriotic spirit these days. I wont list all the reasons here. If you read this site, you know what they are. Id just like to be able to feel the same about my country now as my grandfather did when he left high school to sign up to fight in World War II. I want to be proud of this country and I want to believe that were serving as an example to the rest of the world as to what mankind is capable of achieving. I want for us to be the city on the hill that people look toward for inspiration. Unfortunately, I dont see that being in our future, at least not in the near term. I see us portraying ourselves instead as a glutinous, self-serving and stupid people.
I dont want to feel this way. Its just how I feel today.
Sorry to get all serious on you. I promise that Ill get back to Whitney Houston and the ball-shaving tomorrow.
One Comment
Take heart Mark! After years of Bush failed policy, there is NO WAY we will lose in 2004! I believe the country is waking up and will vote for a progressive candidate and quickly move to a more civil and informed public dialogue. And things on the local front are looking even better! The blogging revolution is about to usher in a new era of openness and engagement in politics. Thanks to the Internet, the decades of “closed door” meetings, corruption and backroom policy making are at their end. As you know, there are several promising candidates who will bring a sea change to Ypsilanti, even as a progressive Tsunami washes over capital hill!
I will see you at the parade in 2004, flag in hand, waving it with great pride!