Boy, how today's reality differs from yesteryear's fantasies! One of the memorable lines in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon was spoken in some context by John Wayne's character, Captain Nathan Brittles. "Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness."
Apologies seem to make up a great deal of our foreign policy these days. A great deal of our national psyche. Most of it occurs in Afghanistan for the killing of their supposed civilians. Never mind the 'apology tour' the President took after he was first elected. Now the Pakistanis. If their military weren't up to their ears in cahoots with the terrorists perhaps the mishap wouldn't have happened. Even so, it is war and the military is just that, military. Unexpected, unplanned and regrettable deaths come with the territory.
I get the feeling we're being played. We've extended our regrets for the incident every which way but naught. We didn't utter the 's' word - sorry. ' Regret' didn't do it. 'Sincere condolences' for the loss didn't do it. They wanted to hear 'sorry'. Now they have. I can almost hear them crowing, "We did it, we made them say it!"
Of course we got something for it. The vital supply lines into Afghanistan are to be reopened. Let's hope they uphold their end of the bargain. They've been held hostage since the incident, costing the U.S. billions in rerouting expense. Personally I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Tomorrow we celebrate our independence from the tyranny of King George III. Today we face another type of tyranny - that imposed on us by political ideology on one side and apathy on the other. The freedoms we fought so hard to win are being siphoned away from us slowly and methodically. When will we reach the point of no return?
It's not so difficult to foresee. When apologizing for everything others haven't liked about us becomes the norm. When leading from behind becomes the norm. When parsing words into expedient definitions becomes the norm. I could go on and on.
As long as any of my generation live and remember what we were in the heyday of John Wayne, unabashed flag waving patriots, the memories will be preserved.
I worry though about what happens next. All those norms I mentioned are today's normal. What the youth of this country will grow up knowing. With the tendency we now have to revise history just as we parse definitions, when we're gone so will be the country my generation and those who came before created and grew. No more. It isn't even being sustained.
Will there be another John Wayne? No one comes close at the moment. It certainly isn't an Alec Baldwin with his tempermental petulance. Is the pendulum swinging back? I don't see it. All I see is division, distrust, partisanship and the depression that can't help but accompany it.
There is so much potential and pockets of success still out there. It just isn't getting the press nor the support of a more and more repressive government. Independence Day. Just what does it mean to you? Have you thought about it? Will you fight for it?
5 comments:
my in laws and I were talking this very subject this am... we are sick of the saying, sorry.. and also paying the citizens.. We haven't seen any > I'm sorry for Pearls dead (the writer) and others of our citizens.. both civilian and troops.. and they sure haven't paid any $$ out to the families of our people..
Seems pretty dang one sided to us..
It would be so much more convincing had John Wayne actually served in the military along with Ronald Reagan (not).
John, I thought about that when I wrote the post but my thinking was more along the line of attitude displayed even if not, in reality, practiced. After all, an actor's job is to reflect attitude, not necessarily be responsible for creating it.
We are big John Wayne fans in our home .. and my hubby quotes that line quite often. If a boy came calling to date one of our daughters and didn't know who John Wayne was, he showed them the door :)
Love your blog!
I often find myself contemplating what you have discussed in this post. Thanks for sharing. It really is a shame how much the world really has changed...what the norms are now as opposed to what they used to be!
I also work with senior citizens every day, helping them cover the out of pocket gaps brought on by government Medicare at medigapgroup.com. This is a topic that we discuss quite frequently... If only there was something that we could do about it! Unfortunately it just doesn't seem like there is. Thanks again for sharing, you have an excellent blog.
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