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I have a
growing sense, which the public debate on invading Iraq has confirmed in my
mind, that we are disillusioned as a nation with our world famous Wall Street –
American CEO export, poorly educated and generally inarticulate so that
espousing our historical Constitutional ideals at street level is difficult and
infrequent, increasingly bored with Hollywood’s heroes and the real life of
celebrities, the great American farm belt and food chain are iffy, and even the
great American pastimes of sports are so tainted by drugs and steroids that we
are now enthusiastically embracing the one bright, shining outpost of American
inventiveness and competitive supremacy, our high-tech, macho and very sexy
military. It’s been a
rough year, after all, still in free fall from a midair collision between the market,
human greed and over-consumption, and a devastating and evil attack on our
premises. We have been mugged and robbed
and are still in post-traumatic stress syndrome. We are either going to have that spiritual revival that the
evangelists predict, rediscover the great wealth and inspiration of art, or
madly rush to the adrenalin boosting, chest-thumping revenue-enhancing modern
gladiator arena. In my personal
opinion, the current occupant of the White House makes it difficult to espouse the
political ideals of my youth to a younger generation: it’s not what you know, what
experience or hard work you have to your credit, what you dream or inspire, but
who you know. Just like work. So that’s a torpedo. I submit as Example
One in my early morning case file, the following report filed from off the
coast of Iraq by msnbc’s special foreign correspondent Dr. Bob Arnot. Dr. Bob used to report medical and
health care stories on the Today Show.
I’m not sure how he made the leap, but after 9/11 he started appearing
overseas in war correspondent mode, and now has access to special ops details
to share with the hungry American public. Sure, he had good camera presence with Katie Couric on air a
few years ago when I last saw him doing his medical spots, but how do you go
from reporting on vitamins and medical tests to reporting inside Afghanistan
and on board military aircraft? Dr.
Bob seems to be a very good example of the transfer of one specialized
education to another in our multi-career world, or else another example of good
looks and language skills trumping experience and knowledge. Maybe he speaks a foreign language and
CNN was tempting him with a better offer.
I must learn to smile more as a career enhancement. Anyway, this
report has some juicy details for those of us whose eyeballs dilate when
reading military hardware descriptions, like that commercial for diamonds where
the woman’s eyes dilate when the big stones appear onscreen. It occurred to me while waiting for my
eyeballs to readjust that it is another in a growing list of ‘prime the public’
postings that reflect a sense of inevitability but also an eager disposition to
show off what we can do, brag about not just our high tech battle toys but our
highly skilled and vigilant GIs on the real high seas, in the real desert, who
aren’t just grownup versions of playing with those plastic army dolls (yes,
yes, I was a tomboy and glued airplane models together, played marbles, dodge ball
and touch football, too, but it was really because Rusty was sooo cute). Are we in such a state of decline that
we have retreated, like Rome, to the gladiator arena? We need
something to be excited about, and unfortunately, combat is something that we
have learned to do well, so while the other institutions we have been proud of
- the ideas and concepts we have marketed as primarily American success stories
- are suffering, lying like dying gladiators in the arena, we are scavenging
for the next great success story: science plus commerce plus manpower equals
military supremacy. In the Old
Guard worldview that dominates this administration, that is reason enough to be
number one, testosterone carrying the ball to the goal line, when the game plan
failed at the fifty yard line. In
capitalism, once you have a great product, you trade it, so now we are on the
verge of marketing and importing our military skill and capability, like a pro
sports team markets and strategize the depth of its team skills and their game
strategy. We can psyche-out the
competition. So, just to
make my point: diplomats and other process-driven people of intellect who must
be patient and convince others laboriously are not as sexy as the brainy brawns
in uniform who train for action, repeatedly and reliably, faithfully. Do you get my drift? We are being seduced again, our
insecurities and basic needs overpowering our higher function overrides. My question is, will we know it as we succumb to temptation
or we will just regret it in the morning?
BTW, I think
Colin Powell is very sexy, in a suit.
But I’m detouring again, so here’s the post so you can judge for
yourself: - Karen Watters Cole America at War/The Tip of the US Spear in the Persian Gulf @ http://www.msnbc.com/news/817745.asp |
