His Finest Hour

Henry Bamford Parkes in his book, “The American Experience,” observes that our nation accomplished its existence not through the recognition of the reality of things but rather through a “state of the mind.” His argument was that had the early settlers given in to the harshness of their state of being they would have given up the struggle to be. Instead, they continued to toil for the evolution of this country because of their vision, ‘their state of the mind.”

Recently, while waiting to discuss a potential real estate matter with my banker in Alabama, I sat outside the office able to hear the conversation taking place inside. The door was open so I was not eavesdropping. The gentleman who was there to discuss the purchase of a vehicle – a man of over 50, I would guess – had moved his remarks from the financing of the new wheels to a recent trip he had made to Washington, DC. My ears perked up when I heard him mention that “this was the finest and greatest thing I have ever done.”

I was expecting him to speak of seeing the monuments to the development of our nation and to the great people who had been instrumental in this endeavor. I thought perhaps he might mention the awe of viewing the copy of the Declaration of Independence. Instead, he clarified the moment with the explanation that he had attended the Tea Party March in September 2009.

His finest moment.

I wanted to rush out and find something more profound for this man’s finest hour, but then remembered my sister’s constant mantra: “not everyone thinks like you.”

I also remembered the late Norman Lear.

You will recall that Lear created “Archie Bunker” (the idea borrowed from a British sitcom) to poke at the sensibility of the American mind by presenting a character so “out there” as to remind us all of our narrowness and bigotry. However, instead of being rebuked, there was a groundswell of folks who held Archie as “just like me.” They loved this man because he shared their same vision. As late as 2008, the Archie Bunker label was being used to describe a block of voters in the elections in that year.

Our country loves the anti-intellectual. We love our “folksy” types.

I recall a great cartoon, which portrayed both George Bush and John Kerry appearing before the crowd at a Nascar racing event. Bush remarked something to the order of “how y’all doing?” John Kerry said “Greetings, race car aficionados!” Well, you know the results of that election.

In the early 1960s, Richard Hofstadter wrote “Anti-intellectualism in American Life.” It was written after the defeat of Adlai Stevenson, a man who refused to “dumb-down” his discourse for a more popular appeal. In truth, there were other factors at play in the elections of that period. But Hofstadter’s look at three aspects of our culture: religion, commerce, and democracy to understand the role of distrust of intellectualism at play has great validity.

The conservative movement, most especially the “tea partiers” play on the fears and distrusts of intellectual thought. The current administration is portrayed as thinking about the process but doing nothing. I personally would rather have a reasoned Nobel Laureate in the cabinet working through a problem than a good old boy from down home reacting from unreasoned emotion. Unreasoned approaches have landed us in quite a mess.

Sarah, you know, the one from Wasilla who coined the healthcare “death panels”, recently spoke before the Tea Party Convention at Opry Land. In assailing the current administration, she asked, "How's that hope-y, change-y stuff workin' out for you?" This while encouraging the audience to revolt! (Isn’t that change?) She even took a jab at the President’s use of a teleprompter. Yet, she was caught checking “crib notes” written on her hand to stay on track.

“Sarah Palin writes notes on her hand just like I do when I go to the Piggly-Wiggly.” People identify with this. Will “Cliffsnotes” become our finest hour?

Palin’s track was attack. She offered no ideas. Where are the solutions? Where is the vision? We are becoming a nation of fear and negative thought and I am frankly worried.

And the attacks? They are like a limbo pole: “how low can you go?” Consider this:

Some in the media recently characterized President Obama as “elitist” for wanting a “spicy, Dijon mustard” (made by Kraft in Illinois) on his hamburger. Were these the same people who insisted that certain staples on the burger plate be referred to as “Freedom Fries?” No, that was conservative members of our congress trying to one-up a reasoned approach by France to the idiocy of the Iraq War. French toast soon followed.

For the record, an earlier, well-respected, highly intelligent President, Thomas Jefferson, first referred to potatoes cooked “in the French manner.”

So where is the real America?

The statue in the New York harbor, a gift from France to commemorate the first centennial of our country, was created by Auguste Bartholi and called “Liberty Enlightening the World.” It is not merely Liberty “lighting” the world, but “enlightening” which bears the responsibility to furnish knowledge and insight. It is not about “me and mine” but about “ours.”

Shall we take the position of liberty as a protector or Liberty an enabler? In our finest hours, it has always been the latter.

Will our sense of “enlightenment” be only a “state of the mind” while fear and selfishness become our reality?

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses …”