Once Venerated U.S.A. Plummets into Disgrace

If any day stirs patriotism in the American heart, it’s the Fourth of July. But I won’t be celebrating this year. The thought of waving a flag and declaring that we are the greatest country in the world is laughable.

 

Citizens protest racial injustice in record numbers, disrupting complacency in hundreds of cities and towns across all 50 states. And yet, the inept, immoral president (lower case intended) doubles down on the militarized policing that ignited the protests to begin with. Federal troupes menace fellow citizens as they exercise their American rights to free speech and assembly.

 

Our country should be an example of harmonious diversity to which all others aspire. Instead, multitudes from Berlin to Melbourne take to the streets protesting American racism.

 

Covid-19 runs more rampant here than in any other country. Places identified as shit holes by the same racist president manage the pandemic better.

 

Americans are banned from Europe, parts of Asia, and even Canada because we have failed so badly to combat the virus within our borders.

 

In the midst of this global pandemic, the president, desperately trying to focus the blame somewhere else, carelessly pulls our membership from the World Health Organization.

 

The U.S. should lead the world in fighting disease. Our wealth should create vaccines that we generously share with others.

 

Instead, dimwitted throngs march on state capitals to battle for the fabricated right to not wear disease preventing masks. They do so with blatant disregard for scientific facts and no concern for the public good.

 

I once thought that greed and corruption, persistent evils in the best of countries, could be kept at bay by the determination to live out our ideals. The arc of the moral universe, said the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., would bend towards justice. In spite of occasional backsliding, we were ultimately destined to be the great country we imagined.

 

But evil and corruption have escalated to unprecedented levels. Checks and balances to keep them at bay have been defused.

 

The corrupt elite instigate chaos to distract us from their antics. As a result, we ignore serious threats like climate catastrophe.

 

The criminals running this country are only interested in preserving their own power and wealth. Even the most basic American values don’t interest them. They blithely encourage unthinkable evils such as white supremacy to achieve their goals.

 

And yet.

 

We might have a chance to set things right. In November, we could send a message that corruption will no longer be tolerated. It won’t be easy, however. We must overcome Republican instigated systemic voter suppression, the influence of nefarious countries that manipulate our elections, and the apathy of millions who have not voted in the past.

 

Our reward could be a new United States, a country of which we are truly proud. We could become not the world’s savior, but a responsible citizen nation among others.

 

Nothing New to Say, but Donald Trump is a Pig

I really have nothing to add to the conversation about what's happening in this country. I can't say anything new. But I'm going to say it anyway.

Donald Trump is a pig.

Perhaps I can be a little more constructive.

Trump and the people he's surrounding himself with are abusing power and pushing the constitution to its limit, just like many of us expected.

Less than a month into his administration, we're a nation in turmoil, demonstrating in the streets, others around the world confused (at best) about our standing in the lineup of nations.

I do not trust our government. I fear that they do outrageous things to distract us while they do other, more dangerous things we don't know about. There is no reassurance forthcoming, and if it were, I wouldn't believe it.

I'm afraid to imagine how bad it could get at this rate and I wonder how far it can go before Congress puts a stop to it, if they can work up the guts to do it.

The people in government I do trust and respect seem unable and/or unwilling to adequately respond to the crisis. I'd like to think they have a plan and are working behind the scenes to effect some sort of impeachment proceedings or something which will save us. But I'm afraid they are too disorganized and just as confused and scrambling as we out in the sticks seem to be.

To reflect on how we got here seems futile at this point, but I can't help but continue to feel dumbfounded that people actually voted for this. What ignorance! Did they really believe that their jobs would come back to them? Did they really think that a New York billionaire who lives in a penthouse relates to them? Understands them?

I look to my faith for comfort. I look to the old Biblical stories where there is hope even in the worst of times, and where there is light even when it is darkest. I remember that in the face of insurmountable evil, we are called to fight for justice and make a difference even in small ways where we can. I remember the parable of the tiny mustard seed that grows into a giant tree.

I also look to history for perspective. This is not the first time that government has turned bad. We are not the first people to take to the streets in protest.

And there is something unique about us: we are are American. We are a mix of freedom loving people who don't like to be messed with, who don't tolerate it when the government goes too far, who won't tolerate it when some line is crossed. We are mostly peaceful in our protest. Remember that huge women's march a couple of weeks ago? 200,000 in Denver and not one arrest. Not one. And once you get our attention, Americans are compassionate. We care about others and we like justice. We value family and relationships and somewhere deep inside, we champion the chutzpah of immigrants who arrive in this country to work hard and build a new life, which is what most immigrants want to do. Sure we are prejudiced, but we've overcome a lot of our bigotry, and once we get to know each other, we see each other as human beings. That will happen the more we demonstrate and come out to defend each other and unite to overcome this current challenge.

Our press is much maligned and battered by changing technology and social media. But the truth about what the government is doing will still come out. Through all the "fake news" and gossip and stuff that doesn't matter, the truth will continue to expose the festering corruption of lies and deceit and people will wake up to the falseness of empty promises and hollow slogans.

Americans don't always do things gently or in the right order. Sometimes we make terrible mistakes. But if you look at history's jagged line, it tends to go in the right direction eventually. The real question is how many will have to suffer this time while we correct the line's direction? How many rights will be trampled? How many will die for lack of health care? How many will perish from being turned away at our borders before we get it right again?

I'm sure the course we're on will be corrected. I just wish we didn't have to go through everything we have to go through to get there.

One Nation UNDER God

I hate singing patriotic songs in church. Confusing patriotism with worshiping God is blasphemy. The flag, a symbol of our country, is too often an idolatrous object, worshiped like the golden calf in Exodus. Revered and saluted, the stars and stripes are respected more than many of the people it represents.

A typical liberal, I'm so appalled by others' blind, hysterical flag waving, I sometimes forget that I am also a proud citizen.

July 4 has always been an important holiday for me.

• The summer before second or third grade, I sustained an eye injury and was hospitalized. I was discharged on July 4. Blind in one eye, I still wanted to see fireworks. My dad drove me over to Omaha's Peony Park and from the inside of the car, I watched with the good eye. 
• In 1992 I got married on the fourth.  It wasn't a legal wedding. At that time, few of us sincerely thought legal gay marriage would be possible in our lifetimes. But celebrate we did as friends and family came from all over. It was a blast. The relationship didn't last, but that year, the fourth was great.
• One of my favorite July 4 memories is of a square dance convention in Baltimore in the year 2000. And yes, I square danced as a card carrying member of the Rocky Mountain Rainbeaus. We took a dinner cruise out on the harbor to watch fireworks. As we passed the point where Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner, the huge crowd of mostly gay men and lesbians suddenly began singing, God Bless America. It was a goosebump moment. I thought that if all these people who have been told over and over again that they don't deserve equal rights, the right to marry, the opportunity to serve in the military, the freedom to love whomever they choose - that their citizenship is "less than," if they can still love this country, there must be something worth loving. 

This year, as we celebrate the nation's birthday, our citizenship is reaffirmed by the Supreme Court's ruling on LGBT marriage equality. I feel a little more like a proud American than I did last year.

I'm not a flag waver. I don't place country with God above all else. But I am a patriot. I believe the U.S.A. is a basically good place which requires constant tinkering and vigilance to stay that way. When I criticize the U.S. and protest some of the things it does, I'm not only exercising my patriotic duty to make things better, I am participating in the freedom of speech guaranteed so clearly by the Constitution.

This doesn't mean I think other nations are inferior. One of my favorite songs, rooted in a national song of Finland, allows for love of God and country without chauvinistic nationalism:

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine;
this is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine:
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
and skies are everywhere as blue as mine:
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.

Secular Holiday Hijacked by Religious Radicals

Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I am a life-long practicing Christian. I have a degree from a theological school. I go to church every week. I participate in faith-based rituals around Advent and Christmas Eve. I love the beautiful sacred music this time of year.

And unlike the vocal zealots on the news, I have no desire to cram my faith down the throats of those who simply wish to gather with friends and family over some eggnog, exchange gifts, and enjoy some colored lights during this gloomy month.

I contemplated many titles for this entry of BillsWeek:

• Waging Peace in the War on Christmas
• Let’s Take the Christ Out of Christmas
• Jesus is NOT the Reason for the Season

The point is, I’m sick to death of hearing from right wing Christians about the “true” meaning of the holiday and how those who celebrate secularly are misconstruing “the reason for the season.”

Merriment this time of year goes way back before the time of Christ. At least 10,000 years ago in the northern hemisphere, people celebrated the returning of light after the darkest nights of the year.

Light was no trivial matter to these pre-common era people. In Europe, in particular, light meant warmth and the ability to grow food. Light meant survival.

Solstice traditions and festivals evolved into major celebrations. When the Christian church started taking over in the first millennium, these celebrations were seen as dangerously frivolous, probably the work of the devil himself. Universal popularity made it impossible to forbid the festivities, so the church cleverly usurped the time and turned it into a celebration of Christ’s birth.

The timing of Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus’ actual birth. If you are really a fundamentalist, you shouldn’t celebrate in December at all. Indications from the Christian scriptures point to a spring birth (were those shepherds watching over lambs?).

The church still couldn’t subdue the revelry, however. In England, as late as the 1600s, this time of year was marked by major carousing and hooliganism. Respectable people stayed off the streets for their own safety.

In some places, only the Roman Catholic Church celebrated Christmas. Protestants, including those Puritans who so faithfully established some of the original American colonies, distained Christmas. The only reason Protestants began to celebrate Christmas in church was because so many were sneaking over to experience the beautiful Catholic Christmas mass.

So I’d like to invite all those extremists who are offended by the modern celebration of Christmas to celebrate the season in whatever way is meaningful to them. But this is The United States of America. We have freedom of religion here. If we want to visit Santa at the mall, put a plastic snowman in our yard, play hockey with a fruitcake, light a menorah, or observe the solstice in the manner of Pagans and Wiccans, get off our backs.

I think most people are like me: enjoying a combination of religious tradition and secular celebration. But because I don’t want to assume that your beliefs match mine, I will simply wish you:

Happy Holidays!

America Before and After

I’m spending a snowy Sunday inside, cuddled with the cats, eating tangerines I bought from King Soopers, and watching Netflix rentals. Today, it’s Sports Night, a comedy series from the late 90s which was fast-paced, witty, intelligent, and way ahead of its time. Critically acclaimed but not watched by a viewing majority, It barely squeaked out two seasons. I may do a blog about it someday, but the thing I keep thinking about is 1998.

In 1998, the economy was good. Dot coms boomed with no bust in sight. The biggest problem we seemed to have was whether the president was having sex with an intern. On Sports Night, the TVs are square and have large back ends. The characters don’t look too different from people today, but they carry around VHS cartridges and type on computers with huge monitors. On one episode, a character is going to see The Lion King on Broadway, but has no idea the show is sold out.

Amid the laughs and drama, I keep wanting to say to the people on screen, “You have no idea what’s coming, do you?”

Like many others, I see the modern world in two parts: before September 11, 2001, and after. Every movie I watch, every book I read is evaluated by whether the author or characters have yet gone through the experiences of that day.

On Sports Night, they talk about AIDS and the homeless as serious problems, but don’t seem much affected personally. Their individual lives are safe and insular. They can’t yet comprehend how the world could come crashing around them at any moment.

I was 2,000 miles away from the terrorist attacks, but I remember with vivid detail where I was and what I was doing when the World Trade Center fell and the Pentagon burned. I was working from home with the TV on when local TV anchor Kyle Dyer said that a plane had just crashed into one of the twin towers.

“Some drunk pilot,” I thought. “They’ll be talking about this for years.”

Later that day, I interviewed house cleaners and went to the computer store because I needed software. I was in a daze. Everyone was. But we had to go about our business or the terrorists would win.

After 9-11, we still have AIDS and the homeless. Thankfully, there is still also humor on TV. But there’s a difference. Fictional characters and we ourselves, go about our normal business but seem to be half looking over our shoulders, knowing something terrible and life-changing could happen again. The President has to manage two wars, whether justified or not. No thought of interns in the national conscience these days. There is extra security, ridiculous at times, at the airport. And we are reminded of terror every time we see the ubiquitous skyline of New York on TV show cutaways – on Sports Night, the twin towers achingly present, on newer shows, painfully absent.

A trial soon begins of the man who is said to be the mastermind of the 9-11 attacks. As is typical in the United States of America, there is discussion of justice and a desire to see this man punished for taking those thousands of lives. As appropriate and necessary in the USA, there is concern that we continue to follow the law: give this man a fair trial and not lose our heads to emotion and vengeance.

As to whether the trial should be held in civilian or military court, in New York or somewhere else, I don’t really care. I frankly, personally, don’t care what happens to the guy.

I want my 1998 back.

But this is America. Part of the Obama victory last year was a mandate to return to the reasonable, just, and democratic America which could be an example to the rest of the world. We have a constitution which rules over our hot heads. Every accused criminal gets a fair trial so that all of us can be free.

Now, back to Sports Night.