The word patriot has been kicked around a lot for the past 28 years, when the moneychangers ran wild with our money and eventually bankrupted the nation. Business could do no wrong; 'government' was 'the problem, professed that nice man, Ronald Reagan, who, upon leaving the presidency, termed patriotism "an unambivalent appreciation of America." [ Reagan Foundation ].
In the 28 years since Reagan uttered his anti-government remarks, our nation has been raped, repeatedly, by those who were turned loose to cash-in when the regulations were turned off. Now, in our moment of national terror, the economy withering and accelerating into unknown depths, we're led to ask, 'Who are the patriots today?' Who has been acting for the good of the nation with what Reagan called 'unambivalent appreciation' for it?
Might it be those Brahmin bulls, who populate the bull-statued center of our capitalist economy; you know, the fellows who used to chat with Louis Rukeyser on [ Wall Street Week ]? What kind of patriotism have we seen among the market class?
Some might call what they've accomplished – bringing our nation's economy to its knees [ New York Times ] – sabotage, which Webster defines as, "destructive or obstructive action carried on by a civilian or enemy agent to hinder a nation's war effort." Take the 'war' out of it and we've got what Wall Street's been doing to us since the days of the Reagan 'revolution' [ CNN.com ], 'destructive action carried on by a civilian agent to hinder a nation's effort.'
And hinder it has. Our economy is in collapse, and we all can look to one place, on Manhattan island, where those infamous 'bonuses' are the subject of national fury today [ Reuters ].
They weren't content to make profits via investments in commodities and manufactured goods. No, their greed was so unrelenting that they had to create something new; an 'instrument' [ Business Week/msnbc ] of such questionable and mysterious value that it could be bought and sold and resold to the the witless citizens of our republic.
All conceived so the sellers could become, as baldly stated by one Wall Street analyst, 'wealthy and retired by the time this house of cards falters' [ Bloomberg News ], while the rest of us could do nothing as our nest eggs rapidly disappeared. [ CNN.com ]
How did it begin, this dizzying slide into oblivion? Was it a mistake; a misplaced comma, a clueless money transfer? No, the climactic shift away from Washington and into Wall Street occurred where all foul deeds find their origin, late in the day, when few are watching. Here is what occurred, as reported by the [ Columbia Journalism Review ]:
"In the early evening of Friday, December 15, 2000, with Christmas break only hours away, the U.S. Senate rushed to pass an essential, 11,000-page government reauthorization bill. In what one legal textbook would later call ‘a stunning departure from normal legislative practice,’ the Senate tacked on a complex, 262-page amendment at the urging of Texas Sen. Phil Gramm."
There was little debate on the floor. According to the Congressional Record, Gramm promised that the amendment - also known as the Commodity Futures Modernization Act - along with other landmark legislation he had authored, would "be seen as a watershed, where we turned away from the outmoded, Depression-era approach to financial regulation and adopted a framework that will position our financial services industries to be world leaders into the new century.." [ Congressional Record ]
Thus was born the 'credit default swap' and the seeds of our economic destruction [ NPR.org ].
Patriotism? Or saboteur? Was this the act of one who regretted that he had but one life to give to his country? Or was it the act of a cynical, guileful senator, who doubtless chortled that his singular deed would bring great wealth to his new masters at UBS, for which he exited the Senate to sit as vice chairman today? [ UBS.com ]
You know, that 'bank' where so many of our ultra-rich -- those whom George W. Bush called "The haves and the have-mores... my base" [ CBS News ] -– keep their money, so they don't have to pay for the privilege of living in this country. The same UBS which, "in February ... agreed to pay a $780 million fine on charges it had helped thousands of U.S. citizens hide assets from the Internal Revenue Service" [ UPI.com ].
Now, you tell me; who is a patriot today? A Phil Gramm? A George W. Bush? A Bernard Madoff ]?
Or is s/he more likely Leonard Abess Jr., "the Miami banker who gave $60 million to his tellers, bookkeepers and clerks" ... or Geneva Lawson, a 51 year employee of Abess's bank, where she's "the safe-deposit custodian at the Miami Beach branch"? [ Miami Herald ]. Both of these honest patriots, and 18 others who work for a living and believe in extending a helping hand, sat with Michelle Obama during the President's recent address to Congress [ White House.gov ].
So, here we are. Our economy trashed by the kind of men and women who likely worshipped Gordon Gekko's creed: "Greed is good" [ AmericanRhetoric.com ].
And yet we are governed by a man who embodies all that truly is good about this nation. A man who told us on his night of nomination that we are, at our core, good and honest and caring:
"It's that fundamental belief — I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper — that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. 'E pluribus unum.' Out of many, one."
Yes, we'll call for an end to the greed. We'll make certain that no evil deed will go unpunished. But at the same time, let's also be challenged and filled with hope for the man in this nation who gives us reason to hope:
"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there" [ Election Night Speech ].
Now, those are the words of a patriot.