[KappaKittyCat]

Cream,

I understand that New Yorkers will have an entirely different perspective on the September 11th situation. Each and every one of you was personally impacted. I can only imagine what it feels like to look out your window and see such a big piece of your skyline missing, to glance at pictures of those whom you will never see living again, to realize that we Americans are as vulnerable as anyone else to attacks of this magnitude.

I was fortunate enough not to have lost anyone I love in the attacks. I was fortunate enough to have been in Europe when the drama unfolded. I was shielded from a lot of the emotional aftermath, and that gave way to my study of the situation from a cooler, calmer vantage point. I tend to look at things in terms of broad geopolitical impact. As an historian, I need to be able to separate my gut emotional reaction from the reasoning that must take place in my brain.

I do not suggest xenophobia as an alternative to patriotism. I am also in no way challenging the depth of the patriotism expressed by you or any of your fellow New Yorkers. I know that I cannot comprehend the things you have seen or felt. Each person needs to grieve in his own way, and I do not question that.

I'm simply acknowledging the fact that an understanding of the source of New Yorkers' need for patriotism has not accompanied the patriotism itself as the spirit has drifted west. I returned to the Midwest to find it looking as if a bunch of intoxicated high schoolers had gone on a star-spangled toilet-papering adventure during Homecoming week. Lee Greenwood echos through the corridors and drunk people weep. At the request of the administration under which I taught, I led my students in chorus after chorus of "God Bless America," while at the same time factions on the West Coast battled to remove those very same connotations from the Pledge of Allegiance. The American flag is now used to sell everything from books to bikinis to beer, and America excuses, no, encourages this. It seems that around my part of town, overt commercialism is synonymous with patriotism. It is, after all, the American Dream.

When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

I stand proudly behind my country when I am representing her overseas. I defended my nationality and my government publicly during my time abroad. To me, it's the old field trip principle: "Now, boys and girls, remember that we are representing the school while we're at the museum, so everybody be on his best behaviour." It goes along the lines of not wearing one's letters on a pub crawl (something which I saw all over the place in Italy, and it made me sick). I am an American and I have to live with the consequences of my country's actions wherever I go. But for the same reason that we do not air petty intra-chapter disagreements during recruitment parties, I do not complain about my government when I am in front of those who might not understand that my complaining comes from a deep love of America and a desire to make her the best she can be. In my opinion, the best part about being an American is that we have the intrinsic right, and some would say the duty, to criticize our government as loudly and as publicly as we want.

I know this has gotten a little off the subject, and I apologize for that. I just wanted to make it clear what I meant by "shallow patriotism." In my mind, shallow patriotism is the along the lines of a woman's joining a GLO just to wear the letters. Most people have no idea of the deep signifcance behind them. I do, and I am proud to display them. I do so with respect and honour and dignity.

PM me if you'd like to discuss this more. You seem a fabulous and intelligent woman, and I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Respectfully,
KKC