Happy Days are Here Again - Issue #15
Or, at least, they're definitely on the way.
Hello friends, and welcome to Issue #15. Just one essay this week, by Fitz. It’s a short one, and it’s also very optimistic. Just as a reminder, we’d be ever so grateful if you felt inclined to share the newsletter with anyone who you think might be interested. Thanks!
This past Wednesday, while watching the inauguration and preparing to teach, I felt something I haven’t felt in a long time. I can pinpoint the moment it happened: right around the time when Lady Gaga was singing the National Anthem, and she sang the words “our flag was still there” and it occurred to me that we can’t really take for granted that the flag would still be there, at the Capitol building, which, of course, two weeks prior had been besieged by an angry mob of Trump supporters seeking to replace “Old Glory” with the Confederate flag. That feeling—it took a second to recall, something like muscle memory I suppose—was pride, or, more acutely, patriotism.
I know how this looks. You’re thinking, So you didn’t feel patriotic during the Trump years? And the answer, I’m afraid, is no. Friends, I’m a fair-weather fan. I know that’s not a good thing or maybe even something I should be admitting, but I am. I pay attention to sports when a Boston team is winning, and I feel pride in my country when we’re not putting children in cages, banning people of certain ethnicities and religions from entering, or trying to rewrite history to omit our national sins.
So, on Inauguration Day, for the first time in a long time, I felt hopeful. And that hope, harmonizing as it seemed to with Lady Gaga’s rendition of the Anthem, suddenly started to feel like pride, and then patriotism. In the few days since, that hope seems justified. With the swipe of a pen, the United States is no longer a country that ignores climate change, snubs global health experts, bans Muslims, separates families, whitewashes our history, and wishes a pandemic away while ignoring the toll it has taken on citizens.
When we bought our house almost three years ago, Steph and I were struck by the number of flagpole holders that the previous owners had left behind. We’d never actually owned a flag. We thought about what kind of flag we might display. Peace? Pride? Star Wars? But then, I’ve never really been a flag person because I don’t love the notion that a symbol planted outside my house should declare my values. I think it’s asking too much of a flag.
That said, we joked with our kids (who are decidedly pro-flag) that if Biden won, we’d get an American flag for at least one of the flagpole holders. And then he won. And then we said we’d really do it after he was inaugurated. Well, I guess we’re out of excuses. I’m feeling patriotic, happy days are here again, and, finally, it’s time to get a flag.
What I’m Listening To…
Last year, during the difficult days leading up to my dad’s death, the band Pinegrove got me through. In particular, their album Marigold was on non-stop rotation as I drove back and forth between campus and the nursing home. Just this week, Pinegrove released an album and accompanying film in which they play (slightly) reimagined versions of previously released songs, including many from Marigold. It’s definitely worth a listen and viewing.
What I’m Reading…
Someone in my neighborhood put out a box filled with a bunch of free books, and of course I can’t resist free books. I pulled out a couple including one I’d already read but couldn’t stand to see languish on the side of the road—my friend Jeff Sharlet’s The Family, which was also made into a great Netflix special (Jeff, the copy looked well-loved)—and a hardcover version of Jill Lepore’s doorstopper These Truths: History of the United States, which I think I’ll dive into.
Thank you, as always, for reading.
uplifting Fitz! I, too, have struggled with "patriotism" throughout my adult life. Tears during the playing of the National Anthem for an Olympic gold medal, yet utter disgust for the actions of our government in our name over centuries of turbid history. I guess one thing we can all agree on , Lady Gaga was bomb!
Thanks, Fitz! I'm hearing a lot of optimism this week, which is completely understandable. Personally, I'm not as optimistic about the fortunes of our nation.
First, I don't see a lot of evidence that leaders in this country, be they political, religious, academic or in business, have really grappled with why 46% of country voted for Trump in 2016 and again in 2020. And no, simply leveling the "racist," "misogynist" or "generally backward" accusations won't due any more than calling liberal young adults "snowflakes" is a sound judgment. One could say that President Trump was those things, but it would neither be fair nor prudent to say as much about nearly half the U.S. population. Who is truly going to do the work to understand why half the country believed Trump may have been a better alternative to the platform or personalities offered by the left?
Second, I don't foresee a Biden administration, nor a democrat-controlled Congress, having the incentive to do the kind of work necessary to achieve real unity, despite the ubiquity of the word this week. Will President Biden, Speaker Pelosi or Leader Schumer pause to understand the opposition and their concerns? It's doubtful, in my opinion.
Unity hasn't been a hallmark of the United States for some time, not in the last four years nor for a long time before that. So this isn't meant to be some indictment that may fall anew on President Biden and his incoming administration. I'm simply not optimistic that this transition truly marks a real change in the "soul" of America.
Over the next couple years, the newly elected democrat majorities may take the country in directions progressives applaud, and for folks on the left that would be cause for optimism. But it won't be because we're a unified country. It will be because they have at their fingertips all levers of political power and can choose the short-sighted luxury of turning a deaf ear to half the nation. Then again, they could surprise me.
Anyway, I always enjoy reading your reflections. I happy you're offering them in a public forum once again.