Through her anguished protest, Cindy has accomplished something that many of our politicians,press shills can only dream about. Very briefly, she has reestablished the primacy of truth in our public life and for that alone, we should all be grateful to her.But, her stand is important to me and others at many levels and I would like to state my thoughts for fellow tribsters this morning.
Last week, my teenage daughter talked to us about her history teacher’s question to her class:What do we mean when we say America is the Promised Land. That discussion still continues in her class with many students making very astute comments.My daughter’s take on this is that promise in this context does not mean a guarantee of success but the guarantee that everyone will have an opportunity to achieve success on their own terms without hindrance from any one.Her teacher thought that is a very important perspective that many of us forget.
This point was further reinforced for me when I see many of our Mexican immigrants working in our suburban neighborhoods, building new homes, maintaining the lawns,building and repairing highways etc. To me, they form the link with our own roots that we so easily forget in the luxurious life we lead today.Their struggles to establish roots in this country reminds me of my own parents’ trek to this country,starting a small pizza shop and bringing us up and getting us an education that has allowed us in turn to educate our children.This is a story repeated millions of times over in our history and it is sad to see many xenophobes and racists forgetting their own pasts and contemptuously hurling isults at Mexicans who toil in front of us each day.
This is one level at which Cindy has reestablished our connection to our roots.Casey’s sacrifice comes at a time when a suburban housewife is reported as having told a recruiter that “war is not for our kind of people”, an attitude perfectly embodied by Chickenhawks from Mr.Bush on down.Our volunteeer army is now made up of young poor whites, blacks, hispanics with very sparse representation from the upper classes, the class that thinks war is not for our kind of people. In this malaise, Cindy’s personal story stands out because she identifies with the soldiers who bear the brunt of Mr.Bush’s illegal war while the rest of the population offers support without questions asked.
This disconnect between the privileged and the underprivileged is why an empty man like Bush is able to launch a war based on lies.Because the privileged among us do not suffer any consequences whatsoever and have an army of cowards in the press who can be expected to offer support through sophistry,it is possible for Bush to utter any lies,hide from responsibility and even abet treasonous acts among his advisers without paying any political price.
Cindy has made it impossible for these cowards to hide behind their lies and spin.And her son’s identification with those soldiers who are there because they have no choice, unlike the children of the privileged, makes him a powerful symbol.
Returning to my daughter’s history lesson,yes, America is the promised land and only because of people like Cindy,the Mexican immigrants and my own parents who have made the journey.People like Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld may think they are powerful but their days are numbered in the face of a truth telling mother and the many humble people like our new immigrants who have come to our land to redeem the promise and who do most of the fighting and sacrifices for us.
