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Last Saturday the allegedly “non-political” Rally for
America took place at William & Mary Hall. Like most rallies, however, whether
they be for or against the war or President Bush, the political delineations of
this one were defined by the bent both of its organizers and those who were
invited to speak. Yet, who can argue with the
concept of rallying for America? Unfortunately, like most
generalities, the concept of America is hard to pin down, difficult to define
in the sense, say, of a Platonic form. The parameters of the concept are
elusive and can be constricted or enlarged to suit the intent of any
occasion. Hence, as we move from specificity
to generality, from Bush to America and the troops, where are we heading?
What brand of Americanism are we rallying for and whose definition of America
are we supporting? Chosen to give the invocation
at last week’s rally was Bill Cashman, pastor of the York River Baptist
Church. Cashman, who is not prone to mince words when it comes to his
religious beliefs, evidently sees Jefferson’s caveat relative to the
separation of church and state as a minor hurdle at best. In an earlier interview with
the Gazette columnist Cecil Johnson, Cashman maintained that the Bible – and
this, evidently, despite Christ’s admonition to turn the other cheek and
bless the peacemakers – condones “just wars.” He further went on to say that
God, as opposed, one presumes, to the Supreme Court, placed George Bush in
his position of leadership. As a result, we should all ask God to give Bush
“supernatural wisdom.” But perhaps most interesting was the supposition by
Cashman that Williamsburg is a hotbed of elitist liberals who show contempt
for the working class. Beyond the somewhat astonishing
assumption that Williamsburg is awash in liberalism, there lies the rather
dangerous idea – and one that Bush himself seems to embrace - that
some divine collusion has occurred between God and the president in
terms both of his election and the war in Iraq. This is extremely troubling
not only to those Americans who still believe strongly in Jefferson’s wall,
but to our allies as well. As Johannes Rau, the president
of Germany, recently said, “I don’t think a people gets a sign from God to
liberate other people. Nowhere does the Bible call for crusades.” And he’s right. As the Germans well know,
their troops sallied forth in World War I with “Gott mit uns” (“God with us”)
stamped on their belt buckles, and look where it got them. Cashman’s America then, seems
to be rather exclusive and best served by a strict adherence to Christian
conservatism. Liberals should probably move elsewhere, and non-Christians
need not apply for the presidency. Also on the docket of last
week’s rally was JoAnn Davis (R-1st). Davis, of course, has never met a Bush proposal she hasn’t
swooned over like an ardent suitor. While she has consistently voted to
weaken social programs and safety nets for the young, the elderly, and the
poor, her vote in favor of the original House budgetary resolution perhaps is
most indicative of where she wants to take America. Indeed, while the attention of
most Americans was focused on the war in Iraq, the House was busily
dismantling our fiscal infrastructure by passing a budget that will, as the
New York Times claimed, “lead the country into a decade of budgetary
disaster.” In addition to passing a
whopping $726 billion tax cut - $500 billion of which would go to the top 1%
of the population – they cut or eliminated $265 billion from entitlement
programs. Gone are lunches for 2.4 million low-income children. Eliminated
through Medicaid cuts is health coverage for 13.6 million youngsters. But
perhaps most ironic is the fact that troop-supporting Davis voted to cut $1.4
billion from programs for our nations’ veterans. In it’s own way, then, Davis’s
America seems to be as exclusive as Cashman’s. It is a nation in which
plutocracy is encouraged and poverty ignored. It is a nation which supports
its troops on foreign battlefields and shreds their benefits at home. It is a
nation which plays just as footloose with its contracts with its own people
as it does with its treaties abroad. Perhaps this is why the Rally for
America did not draw the crowds its organizers had hoped for. Whatever
America is, its definition is broad-based and inclusive, not constricted and
limited to a chosen few. It is a land
in which diversity of opinion must always thrive and in which criticism and
dissent cannot be viewed as unpatriotic. It is a land in which elitism on the
right or left should be viewed with suspicion. Let us rally for America, then, but not as the dominatrix of the
world. Rather let us rally for an America that is a respected member of
international society and a constant guarantor at home of the life, liberty
and pursuit of happiness that her founders envisioned for all her
citizens. |
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email: LWL@lewleadbeater.com |
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