Thinking about the 4th

The 4th has always been a strange holiday for me. I remember growing up, this day was always a mixed bag. Not bad, for sure, but not necessarily great. We often went to picnics where sometimes I knew kids and sometimes I didn't. I have never been a great fan of potluck, so those were, again, hit and miss.

In high school, we used to go to our city park for fireworks. I liked that to a point, but the crowds and traffic were just annoying.

Anglican and I were talking recently about our experiences with the first Gulf War. I think this is part of my growing unease with this particular holiday. I was in Houston attending grad school and remember watching the war with a sense of frustration. Compared to our recent invasion of Iraq, it was a clear cut war, but at the time it felt wrong. I remember the real feeling that the war was over oil. But I also remember that the invasion of Kuwait was a real issue.

But the real frustration with that war was how it was covered and presented to us. A video game war, with smart bombs and sanitized news coverage. I remember my growing cynicism when during the war the government not only shielded us from any casualties (there weren't many US casualties and most of those were friendly fire--of course we never really heard about the Iraqi casualties), but they also used the excuse of National Security to keep us from really learning how the war was fought. Patriot missiles were held up as examples of American superiority when they shot down Scud missiles. Anyone who paid attention found out after the war that those Patriot missiles were nowhere as effective as we were told. Maybe they hit one or two, but nothing approaching even 50% rate.

All of that was lost on the American public who cheered the "Scud Stud" reporter and watched as the war was sanitized and packaged for our consumption. Bottom for me was when the 4th of July fireworks display in Washington included Patriot Missiles shooting down Scuds. Yellow ribbons were everywhere as was the flag. What was missing was a sense of who we were.

It was at that point that I stopped flying the flag. I am not anti-flag by any stretch (though I feel frustrated having to qualify that). I actually like the flag. The colors are strong, the image is stirring. I like our country. I like the Constitution and consider it a brilliant document. George W. Bush may not really believe in our rights and system, but I do.

And I know there are many people who feel as I do who still put that flag up on the house for the 4th or Flag Day (does our Flag really need a whole day?). I can't do it. It feels like pandering to me. Deep down, I remember Samuel Johnson's phrase that "patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels." Voicing patriotism, or flying the flag, or voting for the stupid flag amendment--those are all the easiest things to do. Actually being patriotic is much harder. That means actions and doing the hard thing. I keep going back to the point that extending freedom to those we agree with is easy and really not freedom. It is only freedom when we extend that free speech to people who we vehemently disagree with--who scare us just a little.

So, for this 4th, we will probably do what we normally do. We will cook out, and eat, and then walk over and watch some fireworks with the dogs. We will think about what it means to be American.

Happy weekend everyone.