Sparkly, Glittery Patriotism

Ah, the 4th of July. Whether you celebrate it by attending a barbeque or singing a song about America or going to the fireworks display on the Mall like I do, Independence Day is usually the time for some shallow, platitudinous soul-searching on what is means to be American.

It's rather too easy to say that those who claim the loudest to support the US through thick and thin, especially when it comes to the war currently being fought in Iraq ought, to go over there and fight (I trap I admit to having fallen in to on previous occasions}. After all, there are different ways to express support of a cause and to give aid and comfort to the US fighting forces, whether you approve of this war or not.

But that doesn't serve to blink the fact that there are plenty of able-bodied young hawks who, for purely selfish reasons, take no responsibility for the war they so ardently support, and do all they can to avoid coming into contact with the suffering and loss that war has caused, filling their time with menaingless feel-good gestures. Journalist Max Blumenthal recently attended a meeting of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) to report on this phenomenon:

In interviews, more than a dozen conventiongoers explained why it is important that they stay on campus while other, less fortunate people their age wage a bloody war in Iraq. They strongly support the war, they told me, but they also want to enjoy college life and pursue interesting careers. Being a College Republican allows them to do both. It is warfare by other, much safer means.

Means such as what?

I chatted for a while with Collin Kelley, a senior at Washington State with a vague resemblance to the studly actor Orlando Bloom. Kelley told me he's "sick and tired of people saying our troops are dying in vain" and added, "This isn't an invasion of Iraq, it's a liberation--as David Horowitz said." When I asked him why he was staying on campus rather than fighting the good fight, he rubbed his shoulder and described a nagging football injury from high school. Plus, his parents didn't want him to go. "They're old hippies," Kelley said.

Plenty of people with worse problems than old footbal injuries are being sent into combat. But never mind...

Munching on a chicken quesadilla at a table nearby was Edward Hauser, a senior at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas--a liberal school in a liberal town in the ultimate red state of Texas. "Austin is ninety square miles insulated from reality," Hauser said. When I broached the issue of Iraq, he replied, "I support our country. I support our troops." So why isn't he there?

"I know that I'm going to be better staying here and working to convince people why we're there [in Iraq]," Hauser explained, pausing in thought. "I'm a fighter, but with words."

At a table by the buffet was Justin Palmer, vice chairman of the Georgia Association of College Republicans, America's largest chapter of College Republicans. In 1984 the group gained prominence in conservative circles when its chairman, Ralph Reed, formed a political action committee credited with helping to re-elect Senator Jesse Helms. Palmer's future as a right-wing operative looked bright; he batted away my question about his decision to avoid fighting the war he supported with the closest thing I heard to a talking point all afternoon. "The country is like a body," Palmer explained, "and each part of the body has a different function. Certain people do certain things better than others." He said his "function" was planning a "Support Our Troops" day on campus this year in which students honored military recruiters from all four branches of the service.

Standing by Palmer's side and sipping a glass of rose wine, University of Georgia Republican member Kiera Ranke said she played her part as well. She and her sorority sisters sent care packages to troops in Iraq along with letters and pictures of themselves. "They wrote back and told us we boosted their morale," she said.

By the time I encountered Cory Bray, a towering senior from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, the beer was flowing freely. "The people opposed to the war aren't putting their asses on the line," Bray boomed from beside the bar. Then why isn't he putting his ass on the line? "I'm not putting my ass on the line because I had the opportunity to go to the number-one business school in the country," he declared, his voice rising in defensive anger, "and I wasn't going to pass that up."

And besides, being a College Republican is so much more fun than counterinsurgency warfare. Bray recounted the pride he and his buddies had felt walking through the center of campus last fall waving a giant American flag, wearing cowboy boots and hats with the letters B-U-S-H painted on their bare chests. "We're the big guys," he said. "We're the ones who stand up for what we believe in. The College Democrats just sit around talking about how much they hate Bush. We actually do shit."

They urged on this war loudly and in public, but refused to have anything to do with the fighting itself. And so, a group of people whose opinions were never asked have to go instead. Naturally, they feel somewhat guilty that others are fighting and dying for their beliefs while they sit comfortably at home. This is an emotion that must be smothered immediately, in this case by waving the flag, singing 'God Bless America', and hoping fervently that nothing is asked of you.