2001-10-10

Rant

Well, it�s happened. I�ve run the gamut of emotions since September 11th and have arrived at my present state of Garden Variety Cynicism.

I consider myself a fairly religious person, but if one more person forwards me one more fucking .GIF of the purported face of Satan in the WTC wreckage, I�m going to don a pair of cheap plastic devil horns and run around the city yelling, �Didja see my picture on the internet yet, bro? Hella wicked cool or what, man?!�

Cheap, hastily assembled American flags have now become a point-of-purchase item in fine convenience stores everywhere. You can now actually buy via television, a la Ronco, decals and flags for your CAR. Wheee! Patriotism on wheels!

It�s one thing to show support for your country. It�s another thing to become rabid and, quite frankly, tacky and truculent about it. I have a hard time dealing with accusations of un-Amuhrickan-ism coming from people who didn't even own a flag prior to 9/11.

I am reminded of my sordid days as an undergraduate, living in Central Florida, at the height of the Gulf War. What started as a nice symbol of support for the troops � a yellow ribbon � quickly turned into full-blown opportunism-disguised-as-patriotism. Plastic water bottles adorned with yellow ribbons at Wal-Mart. In the beginning, you could support the troops without necessarily supporting Operation Desert Storm. Eventually, though, that yellow ribbon came to represent unquestioning, absolute jingoism. You couldn�t have a rational argument with anyone wearing a �Free Kuwait� t-shirt. Free Kuwait from what? It was one dictatorship over another.

When I wrote an editorial for my college paper, questioning our motives in said �war,� I actually received threats. In line at the Bursar�s shortly thereafter with a friend, I expressed shock and dismay at this, when a strapping fellow in front of me turned and said, �Well, you should expect that, if you�re not gunna support America.�

What. The. Fuck.

If you�re not for us, completely and unequivocally, you�re against us. A 16-year-old Afghan ice cream vendor just had his leg blown off in the name of retaliation.

What�s the answer? Damned if I know. But I reserve the right to have qualms.

lisamcc at 10:46 a.m.

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