The U.S. vs. John Lennon

Why is this the greatest country on earth? It is the question I ask each time an individual extends their porky finger into my chest repeatedly and tells me I don’t love this country because of some stands I have taken. I mean, over the centuries, other countries have made similar claims. The Nazis built a whole jackbooted society on the belief. The British Empire believed the sun would never set on their glory.  And I guarantee you, in a few decades, when we are at war with China and our children and grandchildren wonder how we could not conceive that sending our blue collar jobs to the Far East and having them back a good chunk of our debt was a national security concern, a Chinese kid will look into the camera, and say, “China #1,” as he sticks his index finger in the air. So what makes us great? Is it that our military spending is currently almost as much as the rest of the world combined? Emperors and kings from the beginning of time have believed this is the scale on which greatness is weighed.  Is it because we have found a way to pray to our God on Sunday and worship mammon the rest of the week?  Is it our health care system in which 45 million Americans slip through the cracks? Is it our manger scenes in our courthouse yards, our Lord’s hatred of liberals, our prisons that are bursting at the seams or the wonderful tax breaks that we give our rich so that our children and grandchildren can drop an F bomb every time their taxes go up to pay for our party? What makes America great? You should be able to answer that question in 2 words.
Okay, I will give you the answer, our rights. The reason America is the greatest country to ever exist is because we have a list of agreements, our rights, our civil liberties, that allow a diverse amount of people to work and play next to each other. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are more than just empty words. They are the hope and possibility of every citizen. This is why my heart broke recently when a recent survey came out stating that a majority of Americans (60 to 74 percent depending on the survey) would be willing to give up some rights to keep us safer from terrorism. Our “war on terror” is unlike any other war fought in the history of this nation. There will be no general lying down their swords or signing ceremony on the Battleship Missouri. There will always be a handful individuals that want to get this country. It is a war that can last forever, at least as long as there is a politician thinks he or she can get one extra vote by praying on people’s fears. So any rights you are willing to give up, your children and grandchildren will never get back.  Our rights have never been a zero sum game when it comes to a body count. Americans love their guns and every year coroner’s tables are littered with innocent victim, family members, argumentative neighbors, and little kids that happened to be playing on the wrong street corner. Yet, we continue to have a right to bear arms. How many thieves, drug dealers, murderers, serial killers, and arsonists have remained on the streets because of the right to privacy, due process, and police officers having to respect individual rights? I guarantee you more people have died in our war on the streets than will ever die in our war on terror.  When our President engage in torture, blanket wiretapping, detaining prisoners without due process, and spying on American citizens without probable cause, it is a slippery slope to fascism, to independence curtailed. Would Republicans be as bullish if President Al Gore was trying to overturn the checks and balances of the Constitution and install an Imperial Presidency or would they be leading the charge for Impeachment? Politicians, like children, will push the boundaries of what they are allowed.

People who believe that Presidental administrations will not abuse the rights of American citizens have their heads in the sand when it comes to contemporary events and  and  have no sense of history.   If a modern Vip VanWinkle had been asleep for the last for the last 4 decades, he might think he had just experienced a short nap.  The right wing has continued to parade out the same tired rhetoric that sounded so hallow in the 196os and 70s – the media is not reporting the good things that are happening in the war, those who are opposed to the war are giving aid and comfort to the enemy,  we are turning the corner, etc.  Today the Petagon and FBI spy on Quakers and anitwar groups.  Back during Vietnam, it was the same cast of characters and people like John Lennon.

Today, Elvis and the Beatles are as controversal as a Pat Boone marathon.  Paul McCartney played at the Super Bowl a couple years back due concerns about family values, but the lads from Liverpool were considered by some to be a threat to the nation, especially John Lennon who was against the Vietnam War.  The man was considered  such a threat to the United States that the Nixon Administration tried to deport him.  The singer who wrote such songs as “The War is Over,” “Give Peace a Chance,” and “Imagine” was hounded by feds for his efforts to registar young voters, his efforts to free John Sinclair, a man given ten years for possessing two joints, Yoko and his bed-in for peace, his outspoken criticism of Attica, and other pacifistic activity. 

With corporations like Clear Channel issuing lists of songs that cannot be played on their radio stations after September 11^th, there will probably never be another John Lennon, a popular pop culture icon who comes out against abusing personal rights.  It says something about this country that someone like John Lennon wanted to live here, wanted to be an American.  There in lies our greatness.  It is time to turn the tables on the right-wingers.  You can either love the ideals of America or leave it, goose step with those who want to take away our rights, what makes America great, or find a new country. I’m standing with John.

Verdict: A Great Documentary