"'My country right or wrong' is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, 'My mother - drunk or sober!'" G.K. Chesterton in The Defendant, 1901
While catching up on the latest debates on torture, the weasling ways our rights and reputations and futures are being squandered, the latest signs that Democrats and the media are finding their spines, if not their voices - I was remembering a song from the early 1990s by the fabulous group, Midnight Oil, "My Country." The above quote also sprung to mind.
"Was it just a dream, were you so confused
Was it just a giant leap of logic
Was it the time of year, that makes a state of fear
Methods were the motives for the action
And did I hear you say
My country right or wrong
Did you save your face
Did you breach your faith
Women, there were children at the shelter
Now who can stop the hail
When human senses fail
There was never any warning, no escape
Did I hear you say
My country right or wrong
My country oh so strong
My country going wrong
My country right or wrong
I hear you say the truth must take a beating
The flag a camouflage for your deceiving
I know, yes I know
It's written on your soul
I know, we all make mistakes
This is not a case of blurred vision
It's a case of black holes, pocket holes, soul holes
And did I hear you say..."
Granted, Hirst (their drummer) was likely writing about Australia when this song came out in 1993, maybe he was writing about the first Gulf War, I don't know - but it certainly smacks true for America today. The truth must take a beating, the flag a camouflage for your deceiving...
We've come a long way from Stephen Decatur's use of the phrase in a toast from 1816: "Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong!" May the recent spate of criticisms from our elected officials and some brave members of the media be a sign that Decatur's toast is again, rightly, being questioned.
2008 can't come soon enough.