By ED VASICEK
Tribune columnist
July 06, 2008 12:07 am
—
All my pals know that I think the world of “The Three Stooges” (I am a classy guy). Because of this, friends have given me several “Three Stooges” ties. But where am I going to wear them? On an occasion serious enough to demand a tie (a church service, funeral or wedding), the Stooges are really out of place. And I sure am not going to wear a tie when I don’t have to. What’s left?
I recently faced a more difficult question: When should I wear my flag tie? The Sunday before the Fourth of July was June 29. The Sunday after the Fourth occurs during the holiday weekend, but is actually July 6. Why didn’t Emily Post address this one?
I proudly wear my nation’s colors. I believe it a privilege to be an American. My grandparents emigrated from Slovakia (on my father’s side) back in 1923 and were married here in the U.S. My mother’s parents emigrated from Poland a few years earlier.
Slovakia and Poland, as most readers know, suffered greatly during World War II and were held hostage to communist regimes for decades afterward. Only in recent years have they experienced freedom and are only moving toward prosperity. In contrast, I have enjoyed freedom, prosperity and all the advantages of the American way.
In recent political debates, associates of both presidential candidates have attacked the patriotism of their respective opponents. Although politically messy, these attacks evidence a positive change in American society. Why? Let me elaborate.
As a Baby Boomer, I remember a time when it was “not cool” to be patriotic. The World War II generation was given space to be patriotic, but the younger generations? No way! Indeed, many patriots in the Vietnam generation kept their feelings under wrap.
Let me paint a contemporary illustration. Although most see it otherwise, many Americans approve of President Bush’s leadership. Few would verbalize this because they would have to endure endless rounds of emotional tirades. Back a few years ago, being patriotic (for those born after 1950) meant enduring similar rantings, followed up with constant wisecracks. The raving critics have not disappeared, they have simply gone underground (waiting for the right time to surface).
So the debate about “who is most patriotic” is a great debate.
But why are so many people down on the U.S., including some fellow Americans? Part of the reason, in my opinion, is the nurturing of an old tradition known as “The Blame Game.” For reasons that might be theologically or philosophically explicable, many of us want to blame someone for life’s imperfections and disappointments.
Many of the world’s citizens blame the United States for everything that is wrong in the world. If we act, it is our pro-active aggressiveness that is to blame. If we do not act, it is our passive indifference that brings them misery. Perhaps most foreigners believe they can run our nation better than we do.
Yet we Americans are every bit as guilty. We severed our ties with Great Britain in 1776 for a number of (both stated and stealth) reasons. If you read our “Declaration of Independence,” it seems obvious that the king of England was our Boogey Man:
“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good ...”
The problem is that the king was largely a figurehead. It was the British Parliament, not the king, who refused to grant the Colonists’ request for representation. Even the British taxation of Americans was an attempt for the British to address the war debt they incurred from defending the Colonists during the French and Indian War.
The blame game is not a new game. Despite our imperfections, what a country we have! Happy 232nd birthday, America!
Ed Vasicek is pastor of Highland Park Church and a weekly contributor to the Kokomo Tribune.
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ED VASICEK Tribune columnist