(cross-posted at Deny My Freedom and Daily Kos)
On Friday night, the city that I grew up in held its annual 4th of July fireworks display. As they perennially do, they didn’t actually hold the event on Independence Day, but after skipping the event last year, I went and stood in the rain to watch fireworks that were fired in a fashion that clearly displayed a need of some artistic direction. They played music on the PA system while we woke up anyone who may have fallen asleep, but what stuck with me was the contrast between the first song they played and the last song. To me, it summarized, at both times, everything that was wrong and right with American political culture.
The two songs? The first one they played was Lee Greenwald’s God Bless The USA, and the last one was Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA.
To me, songs such as “God Bless The USA” demonstrate a rabid sort of nationalism that has become embedded in this country since September 11. Before that tragic event, I’m sure that most folks on the right wing really didn’t give much of a damn themselves about making a show about being ‘patriotic’. Nowadays, almost every GOP politician (and some Democratic ones) wear a lapel of the American flag on their suits. At any chance they get, they’ll use the flag – or its potential destruction – for political gain. You have to prove your pro-American credentials for everyone because you’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists.
On the other hand, Springsteen’s song (which I was surprised to hear at a July 4th event) is tinged with sarcasm and is similar in content to Billy Joel’s song Allentown. ‘Born in the USA’ doesn’t celebrate the best spirits of America; instead, it speaks of soldiers who are forgotten when they come home and of the hard knocks that the average American has to endure. I’m sure most folks on the right wing would call such a song treasonous these days were in not for Springsteen’s stature as a legendary musician.
The difference is that Springsteen doesn’t aim for romanticizing America, as Lee Greenwood and countless others have tried to do as of late. We don’t have to be like Clint Black and boast of going to war. Instead, it speaks about real problems in America, not simply looking back at our past and glorifying what has occurred. The seminal contrast, though, is that after the past five years, no longer do patriotic songs like Lee Greenwood’s ring true for me. They now remind me of the need to burnish your pro-American-ness that seems so prevalent in politics today. Springsteen’s song isn’t outwardly patriotic, but, like the left wing, it doesn’t need to. Deep down, we know that we are patriotic; we don’t need to show it off at every possible moment. And speaking (or singing, in this case) truth to power like Springsteen does is what America needs the most right now. It was self-evident truths that we discovered that set us free from the British back in 1776. Today, it must be the inconvenient truths we face that will set us free from the right wing, who have shown that they have no ability to handle the truth but instead hide behind their nationalism.
So on, today – Independence Day – let us resolve to win our independence from this storytale nightmare we have been living in since December 12, 2000.