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Before 9/11, I took the American Flag for granted. It wasn’t a historical symbol of freedom for me, it was just a toy, a picture, just a way for people to recognize America. But that’s not what it is. It’s a symbol of our Birth as a country. It’s bright. It reminds us of the first 13 colonies that fought for their freedom from British rule. According to George Washington,
We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing Liberty.
I’ve never seen people come together so closely until September 11th, 2001. Watching other countries burning our flag, it made us want to show our pride more than ever. People went out and bought flags and hoisted them up on their cars, on their mailboxes, some even installed flagpoles in their front yards. For once I felt like I was a part of something great. For once the American flag meant much more to me then it ever did. I hung an old American Flag up in my basement where I had my music gear set up. I went out and I bought an American Flag strap. I remember my friend Eric performing a song he wrote about that day at a vigil in the front yard of our High School.
For once everyone in America had one thing in common. “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.” We were united.
But then something happened. I don’t know if this is the same for anyone else, maybe it’s just me. When we went to war, the country started to become divided. Those who opposed the war started to protest (to no surprise). This was the start of the division that would grow in our country to where it is today. By the 2004 election, we were a country split right down the middle. What happened to the way it was just 3 years ago? We started to lose sight of what 9/11 meant to us as a nation.
Not to seem so cliche, but I think it’s safe to say that this war in Iraq can be to blame for this. Or to be clearer, the Bush Administration.
I remember early on in the War, I was at a Pearl Jam concert with my dad. Pearl Jam has been known throughout their career to be a rather political based band. Eddie Vedder especially, has been taking stances since as long as I can remember him. For example, on SNL in 1992, he wore a shirt that said “No Bush ‘92.” So it was no surprise when this war started to take shape that the band would start using their stage as a venue to express their opinions. To those who wanted to see a rock show, this could be disappointing. But to anyone who has known Pearl Jam, it came as no shock. Probably the biggest deal was made when Ed first came out wearing a G.W. Bush Mask during their song “Bushleaguer.” Of course the crowd went nuts until he took the mask off and impaled it on his mic stand. A big deal was made when a small number of fans left the show. I wouldn’t necessarily call them “fans” because like I said, they should know what they were getting into going to a Pearl Jam show in the midst of a war.
Anyway so I was at a show with my dad, and Ed came out to “Bushleaguer” as usual wearing his Bush mask, as well as a shiny blazer too. He was dancing around and then proceeded to impale it on his mic stand again. He then started going into some protesting. Suddenly, a small part of the crowd, my dad included, started chanting “USA, USA, USA…” This is where the American Flag, and Patriotism in general began to become exploited, in my opinion. Is this what it came down to? Patriotism started being used as a way to say you were “Pro War” or “Pro Bush.” I became embarrassed for the colors Red White and Blue, and the American Flag. Patriotism isn’t about going to war. It’s not about supporting your President. It’s about being proud of your Country. It’s about recognizing our founding fathers and appreciating the land that we have inherited from them. Patriotism is about standing up for something you believe in. The American Flag is a symbol of how you can stand up against a war, because you have been given that freedom. To speak out against something you feel wrong is your RIGHT. And in no way does that mean you don’t love this country.
For the rest of their tour, Pearl Jam would hear those chants and Ed started to get confused. He would say “yeah, I agree, USA!” And Ed would go on to explain that this is why we love America. Because we can have different opinions. And he wanted to hear from people who disagreed with him. It was only fair.
By now though, we are even more divided then ever. Even each of our parties are divided. Your hard rights and hard lefts have almost become two new parties.
Of course I support Barack Obama for president. But I have to say, while he seems to want to really make some changes in the way Government works, neither candidate really has the right idea.
They don’t have the right idea because we are too proud of our differences.
But look at it this way. Point blank, if you ask every candidate for President over history what they wanted to accomplish, you would hear all the same stuff. A booming economy, little or no poverty, better schools and opportunities for all Americans, high wages, low costs, affordable health care for everyone, etc.
If you ask all Americans, they’d probably say they want all those things too.
The problem is, we have this division in American as far as getting to this point. Every candidate has a different way of getting to point B. We talk about “uniting the parties.” Thats great but what about “uniting the country?” Each candidate claims they will cross party lines, but let’s be real. That won’t happen. We don’t need a President who is going to just “cross party lines.” We need a President who doesn’t care about their reputation as a Democrat or a Republican. But someone who just wants to get to Point B anyway they can. If Obama thinks expiring the Bush Tax Cuts will improve, than thats fine, like I said, I’m behind the guy, but if it doesn’t work, then what’s the harm in him trying someone else’s idea? Same goes for his policies on gas prices, and health care, etc. Our President should try what they think is best for the country, but unlike this current Administration, if it doesn’t work, they need to start putting their egos away, and maybe try something else, even if its a conservative idea. This doesn’t stop with the President either, obviously Congress needs to get behind this too.
But things are just too messed up right now for this to happen. Everyone wants to stand by their views, even if they know they don’t work. Everyone wants to please those they are working for. I really hope Obama is able to change the way Washington works. Maybe the country will move closer to this idea of Democrats and Republicans working together to find the right path to point B. I think all Americans will agree that they don’t care how it happens, as long as the economy is in good shape, and they have jobs and health care.
Regene, I expect you to weigh in on this, because I know you probably be able to tell me where I’m wrong or right and maybe provide me with some more insight?
To get back to my point about the American Flag though. The moment Obama clinched the nomination, I think the American flag started to reset for me. It’s a moment that all of America should be proud of, for we’ve come very far as a nation of freedom and equality. Not just Obama though, Clinton too. I think this is a very historical election for more reasons than usual. It’s time we give ourselves a reason to be proud again. Let’s get back to where we were in September 2001, but let’s display our flags without having to lose thousands of lives.
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wow. I’ve got a few points to make here….as usual, but you asked for it so get ready
First, the American flag. It has always been something important to me. Growing up my mother always made us stand for the national anthem and put our hands over our hearts even though she is what I would qualify as a stereotypical child of the seventies that is super critical and cynical about how this country is run. She still felt it important to treat the flag as a symbol that deserves respect. Also, in high school I was a member of the Marine Corps JROTC program and a member of the drill team. I served on the color guard for 3 years and in my senior year got the honor of carrying the American flag myself. Some may find it silly that a flag should never touch the ground, be folded in a certain way, or that you should stand when it passes you by. But these things are all signs of respect, that should still be shown.
My quasi-military experience in high school trained me to stand and salute when ever I passed the flag or heard the national anthem. I still get the urge to do it today. People against JROTC programs in high schools would say that they were effective at “brain washing” me but I disagree. What is so wrong about doing any of those thing? The are signs of respect. There is nothing wrong with teaching students to be patriots and respect what their country stands for. And it is certainly not disgraceful to teach high school aged kids what it means to serve in the military.
You want to see some people who hold up the ideals of this nation? Check out the members of our armed forces. They are good people and work hard. It always frustrated me that only the shitty stories about the military get heard. They do good things too. The real disgrace is that our armed services get used to fulfill the petty needs of an elite class in this country. Conspiracy theories aside, it is an absolute truth that there are people that are profiting from this war. Certain members of government do not want to leave Iraq because they have the select interests of the few in mind, instead of the citizens of this country as a whole.
I almost went into the military myself but this country went to war with Iraq during my senior year. I decided to decline military scholarship and academy opportunities. And trust me, they wanted me bad. Recruiters even got in touch with me while I was in college, but I persisted in the fact that I cannot serve this country in that way because the government was using an honorable ideal to pursue dishonorable interests. Sometimes I feel guilty about this. I feel like I should be there fighting along side my peers, regardless of what the goal of the higher ups may be. I know I would have been good at it. I would have been an asset. I feel guilty that I am ignoring my sense of duty. Since college though, and my subsequent year off, I have realized that it is time to serve in another way. There is much work to be done in this country, and those most educated and enthusiastic about it should be involved, which means I need to get my sh*t together and dig in.
This leads me to my next point: working towards a better America. I’ll start off by saying that I 100% agree with you. One of the things I simply hate about elections is the fact that candidates are so concerned about sticking to party lines that the voters are not able to see what they really stand for. I use McCain as an example here. He was one of my favorite political figures of our day. He is an honorable guy who always did what he thought was right and wasn’t afraid to stand alone on issues. His reputation as a “maverick” was one of the reasons why he was unable to secure the nomination against Bush in the past. The republicans didn’t trust him to always stick to their interests. Today I am sad to see McCain surrender so much of what made him a great politician in the first place. He’s sold out. He learned his original mistake and now he wants to gain the presidency at any cost. I’m sure if you were able to sit down and talk privately to him one on one that he would disagree with half of the shit he has to say and do right now.
As for changing the way Washington works, I honestly don’t see too much happening. If Obama does become president he has his work cut out for him and he will most likely fail. Our form of government was designed to be stable, and therefore not able to easily change. Back in the day that was a value that the founding fathers thought important to preserve. That is why we have a constitution. It outlines basic freedoms that will alway remain valid and important so that there is no need to be changing them all the time (yes I include the right to bear arms as still important to this day, one of the things that make me an “impure” democrat). Even adding to that list takes a tremendous amount of support, which ensures that nothing will change unless we really really really want and need it to.
This is one of the reasons I got so sick of politics. After studying it seriously for 4 years, most of my classmates and I wanted nothing to do with it. We learn that things don’t change, that the same group tends to come out on top. We learn about foreign systems that seem to work better, that would never be able to be implemented here. This is why I work at an engraving company now and not in Washington where I should be.
So I would suggest a clarification of your point to maybe state that instead of straight out change of the system itself that we can only hope for and never accomplish, maybe we should use our current system to fix what’s wrong right now. We absolutely have the means to investigate why gas is so friggin’ high. We can give healthcare to all our citizens, and not healthcare that is just ‘affordable’, but free. Our public education system can be fixed, and we can offer students free access to college.
The means to do these things cannot be found in politicians. They are all ego. That is how they get to be politicians in the first place. It’s why I should be one some day (haha). The means to do these things lies in the people. We should be more pissed off that gas is over 4 dollars. Why aren’t we protesting in the streets? Why aren’t we demanding more from our government? Why are we letting them help special interest groups like tobacco, pharmaceutical, and military contractors and ignore the people who have to foot the bill? WE need to take a stand and do something about it. WE need to be more pissed off. WE need to take a lesson from the French and learn how to protest properly so that our government actually has to listen to us.
I have hope, not that our system will change, but that it will become more honest. People like you give me hope. You have gone from someone who didn’t see the importance of politics, to someone who has become a decent amateur political analyst!! You know more about what is going on in this election than I do. That is what gives me hope. That the average American can start to pay attention, that they can begin to demand more from their government, that they can demand to be heard.
Obama has been inspiring people across the nation to start paying attention. Lets not let that attention fade!!! Let him inspire US to wake up and do something. We have all the power, but the people in charge don’t want us to know that. Lets finally demand that they listen!! Lets not let those colors be used to gain a profit for the privileged few anymore. Lets stand up when that flag passes us by! Let us think of those who have died so that we may still stand. Lets not just put those flags on our cars and outside our houses, but let what that flag stands for get into our hearts and realize what makes us American!!! Lets allow ourselves to remember what it stands for and make our government remember too!!!
long enough comment for you? I have more to say but I have my own blog to write nowadays
Comment by Reggie June 17, 2008 @ 5:58 pmThat concert annoyed me. Mainly because I was there to hear the music, NOT to hear their politics. When it comes to politics, or anything else that is born out of opinion, we are all equal. For Pearl Jam or any other band, actor, sports figure, etc, to use their fame to put forth their opinion is just wrong. My opinion is just as important as theirs but when they use their fame to put forth their opinion it can sometimes influence people who are on the fence or who are so simple minded that they ‘follow’ the beliefs of these larger than life figures. Plus what Pearl Jam did with the mask and the booze was just disrestpectful. That also pissed me off bigtime. Respect has become a bad word in our society and we need to get it back. Respect for each other is the foundation of our society. Jesus said we should love one another, forgive and forget…somewhere along the line we’ve lost that. It’s like as long as it’s legal or a right given by the constitution, we think it’s ok. And while it might be legal, it’s not moral, and morality is sorely lacking these days. The whole shock jock mentality has taken over. Anyway, that’s it for now. Keep bloggin.
Comment by TheOldBlock June 17, 2008 @ 8:09 pm