I wasn't sure whether this was heartening or terribly sad to me, but I think this anecdote from a Wiggles concert here in Columbus last evening shows something has changed in this country in the past several years.
We took our kids to see the popular Australian pre-school rockers last evening, and there was a very surprising moment for me. The group does a song called "Sailing All 'Round the World," and they brought out six flags of various countries, including their native Australia. No American flag, though.
But they kept saying, "Don't forget to cheer when you see your favorite flag." I thought I knew what was going to happen. There'd be an American flag. There would be louder cheering than for any of the show characters, maybe a "U-S-A." I fully expected to be a bit embarrassed by the jingoism.
I was half right. Indeed, near the end of the song out came Uncle Sam carrying the Stars and Stripes. And there was ... a smattering of polite applause. I think my son might have been more excited than most in the audience. Now, I suppose it could be attributed to the fact many parents were likely comatose from a preschool concert, but even those who had been enthusiastic through the show were very quiet.
And while I was glad, in some ways, to see evidence that people are opening their eyes to what's going on in the country, I was also very sad. Because this is what George W. Bush has done: He has taken us from a day when the world said, "Today, we are all Americans" to a time only five years later when Americans are a bit quiet on saying they are.