Scoundrel's First Resort
I don't know that I am any less patriotic than the next fellow, though the recent knee-jerkedness has me a bit squeamish. My non-confrontive sister Jennifer was in the supermarket the other day, and found herself facing off with a checker who was railing about bombing those bastards — which would be fine, my sister observed, if we knew which bastards to bomb. To which the clerk responded with a question about my sister's patriotism.
Okay, Jen went to Harvard and Harvard law, probably a different train from that the clerk is on. She reads, she thinks, doesn't mindsuck what's on television. And she had a very good point, that we should know our enemy before we attack.
Not good enough in this day and fury. If you're not ready to level someplace, and I mean now, mister, you're probably a symp or a faggot or a wuss. Wuss encompasses intellectuals and anyone else with a differing opinion whom you can whup.
Anyway, they glared at each other across the counter, and Jenny left. Probably a lot more peacefully than the clerk would have liked. Imagine what a great patriot she would have felt herself, bragging later to her peers, if she had leapt across the great divide and popped Jenny one in her commiepinkopansypunk-babywhaleloving-Jane Fonda nose. Such labels require less thought, as does a poke in the snout.
The problem is that just because someone has an opinion — even though they have a perfect right to it — doesn't mean what they think is worth dried spit. Even when the whole dang country is madder 'n a Texas twister slappin' rattlers and wants blood, the fact is that not everyone is ready to shoot first and (not) ask questions later. A huge percentage of proud-to-be Americans are quite ready to wait until we know who should be on the receiving end of our vengeance.
A good thing, too, our patience. Already we're learning that at least some of the 19 names on the FBI list of hijackers were stolen identities. At least some of the folks the FBI named as the hijackers are alive elsewhere, and were not involved in the terrorism. It's very important that we get the identification right.
The famed cynic Ambrose Bierce opined that the fabled lexicographer Samuel Johnson was off the mark when he called patriotism the last resort of a scoundrel. Bierce said it was the first. Being proud of one's country is a thrilling feeling, when it's informed and not arbitrary. There are many reasons to be proud of the United States; an endless list. But patriotism loses some of its purpose when we lavish it on victims; I think the flag-waving might wait for a victory instead.
False patriotism creates dangerous illusions that can prevent our seeing clearly in times of crisis. For instance, as we mourn the loss of the 300 New York firefighters and dozens of policemen, we might we remember next time there is a major conflagration in a skyscraper, that there is a very good chance of the structure crumbling in a matter of minutes. And as brave as it would be to enter the building to get people out, such a rescue attempt would likely be futile and fatal, and cause additional, unnecessary loss of life.
Similarly in our response to the psychotics who participated in and survived the terrorism, we should pair mind with muscle, so that we are effective, immediately and for the future. That would put a flag in my lapel.
And that's SetonnoteS...I'm Tony Seton.