The political theater of the Petraeus hearings provides a tantalizing glimpse into the major theme (or in pundit-speak, the meme) which will obtain for the Republicans in the Fall campaign. And, surprise, it isn't new; it isn't particularly elegant; and it almost certainly won't be honest or fair. But history has demonstrated time and again that it will be effective.
The game plan, as it seems to be unfolding at present, is once more to roll out the icons and platitudes of Civil Religion in an all-out assault on the patriotism, loyalty, decency and courage of the Democratic nominee, while simultaneously apotheosizing John McCain as the unassailable living incarnation of Old Glory, thereby rendering any criticism of him or his policies as heresy or, worse yet, treason.
It is clever. if imminently treacherous and profoundly dangerous, politics.
Any serious discussion of this topic, of course, must commence with the obligatory disclaimer: John McCain is an authentic American hero. He earned that appellation the old-fashioned way, by enduring six years of unspeakable deprivation and torture while acquitting himself honorably and with distinction. As a matter of fact, of all the various war heroes who have been offered up as candidates for the Presidency during our long history -- men like Andrew Jackson, Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor, US Grant, Eisenhower, and even Washington -- it can be argued that John McCain has the most indisputable bona fides for valor and the greatest claim on service beyond the call of duty. Six years' residence in the Hanoi Hilton covereth a multitude of sins. Indeed, as one of my old acquaintances once responded to the suggestion that Ross Perot's 1992 running mate Admiral James Stockdale was probably a bit crazy, "He's earned the right."
That said, achieving the status of war hero does not come with a plenary indulgence. John McCain has a legislative record of two decades in which he has espoused some controversial positions and been associated with some dubious characters. And he is now an old man, physically and mentally. To omit these facts from the Fall debate would be a disservice to the electorate, as well as an offense to the concept of transparency in government.
But that's where the flag comes in...
As a heterogeneous society with no established religion and no aristocratic ruling caste, we Americans have developed a civil religion which serves as a cohesive force. Our children learn a civil catechism which includes a creed (the Plegde of Allegiance), some sacred hymns (the National Anthem and America The Beautiful, for example) and a foundation mythology which is codified in sacred texts (the US Constitution, the Bill Of Rights, and the Declaration Of Independence). We make pilgrimages to great civic temples like the Lincoln Memorial and hallowed places like Arlington Cemetery. Most of us view our catechesis in the obligations and meaning of our American citizenship as a positive thing, a state of being which imbues us with liberties and rights but also obligates us to defend those liberties and rights with our lives, when necessary.
And, through time and custom and sacrifice, all these positive virtues have been invested into the icon of The Stars And Stripes, that powerful symbol of one Nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Its symbology is all the more poignant because, despite the best efforts of our fundamentalists, we yet retain the absolute right to desecrate this most potent icon as a protest for redress of grievances. But no American, however humble, will dispute that the Flag is America's cross.
And just as that cross has been abused by generations of hucksters, charlatans and cultists to whip miscreant souls into the kind of religious frenzy which begets inquisitions, crusades and bonfires of the vanities. so too has the Flag been appropriated by demagogues, warmongers and bigots to silence protest, incite conflict and affirm the worst prejudices extant in a civil society. The man holding the Flag is the de facto priest of the American religion, speaking ex cathedra, infallible in matters of public policy.
Or, so they would have you believe...
Most of us older Democrats can remember, usually with revulsion, the awkward and disingenuous way in which then Vice-President George HW Bush began his acceptance speech to the 1988 Republican Convention by leading the Pledge Of Allegiance. It was our first introduction to Atwater politics, and it did not bode well.
(It also didn't make sense, since the regular session of the convention had begun that night, as usual, with the customary honor guard, singing of the national anthem and recitation of the pledge).
The elder Bush wrapped himself in the Flag and then proceeded to bring up Willie Horton...
Since 9/11 we have endured a fairly fundamentalist revival of the old time American religion, which has often been enforced through subtle inquisition. Bill Maher was one of the first heretics to face bell, book and candle; but the most infamous heretic brought before the stake was John Kerry. To be a Democrat and a liberal is incompatible with being a brave American, the Grand Inquisitors Limbaugh and Rove and Mellon-Scaife told us. Ergo, Kerry cannot be an American war hero, despite his medals and citations.
The Inquisitors even produced witnesses. Bernardo Gui would have been envious.
And now we see the game once more afoot. There will be endless questions about "God damn America" and "For the first time in my adult life, I'm proud to be an American". There will be intimations about a "muslim" name and a childhood spent outside the continental US. There will be questions about lapel pins and proper placement of hands over hearts.
In short, there will be blood.
The question becomes, then, whether the American people have learned enough over the past twenty years to distinguish between the negative and destructive force of Nationalism, that ugly human passion which was exploited so successfully and to such bad ends by the Nazis and the Communists and the McCarthys of the last century, and the true and pure virtue of patriotism. a noble and organic virtue which compels good and decent young men like Petty Officer Michael Monsoor to fall on a hand grenade to save his comrades, or makes a fifty-two year old single mother earning minimum wage take off a day from work so that she can serve on jury duty.
We can expect the opposition to hit us with the most time-tested weapon in their arsenal, and this time they have indemnified themselves against their incompetencies by fronting an authentic American hero.
We can stand by in astonishment at the transparent cynicism of these attacks, like Jon Lovitz's parody of Michael Dukakis. Or we can stand ready to counter with a genuine discussion about nationalistic jingoism versus the brand of patriotism which demands dissent and protest of injustices throughout our Union.
Sinclair Lewis captured the essence of our task when he said:
"When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
America is better than "love it or leave it." It is greater than "My Country, Right Or Wrong!"
Lee Greenwood be damned. For too long the debate has been given over to the sunshine soldiers and the summer patriots, which was Thomas Paine's way of addressing the chickenhawks and neo-cons of his age.
We need to make it clear that the sacrifices of men like Michael Monsoor and John McCain DEMAND we commit ourselves to the preservation of the right to dissent, to protest injustice, and to demand equality for all Americans. To settle for anything less would be unpatriotic.