I recently re-read Chapter 7 of Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States of America, As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs-- a reference to possibly the single most infuriating unfulfilled promise in the history of America. And there are many in the running.
Today, there's the promise we collectively made to the great American city of New Orleans. My failure to visit that city before it was ravished by Hurricane Katrina-- with an assist from the Army Corps of Engineers-- is something I will regret for some time. Today, the Lower Ninth Ward still stands in shambles. What relief money wasn't blown on oil subsidies and perks to corporations that weren't hurt by the hurricane was channeled to the tourist areas. And now even the people who owned their own homes can't afford to come back. They've been forced off of their lands, and this time around those who forced them out through a gross misapplication of relief funds have offered nothing in recompense
Say to my reel Choctaw children, and my Chickasaw children to listen-my white children of Mississippi have extended their law over their country. .. . Where they now are, say to them, their father cannot prevent them from being subject to the laws of the state of Mississippi. . .. The general government will be obliged to sustain the States in the exercise of their right. Say to the chiefs and warriors that I am their friend, that I wish to act as their friend but they must, by removing from the limits of the States of Mississippi and Alabama and by being settled on the lands I offer them, put it in my power to be such-There, beyond the limits of any State, in possession of land of their own, which they shall possess as long as Grass grows or water runs. I am and will protect them and be their friend and father.
Spoiler Alert: Andrew Jackson was a dick.
Today, there's the promise we collectively made to the great American city of New Orleans. My failure to visit that city before it was ravished by Hurricane Katrina-- with an assist from the Army Corps of Engineers-- is something I will regret for some time. Today, the Lower Ninth Ward still stands in shambles. What relief money wasn't blown on oil subsidies and perks to corporations that weren't hurt by the hurricane was channeled to the tourist areas. And now even the people who owned their own homes can't afford to come back. They've been forced off of their lands, and this time around those who forced them out through a gross misapplication of relief funds have offered nothing in recompense
There's also the promise from our elected leaders that they would put the success of our country before their own success politically, whether by guile or by gutlessness. And the promise that capitalism would furnish us a better future than that of our parents. Our current President's promise to be a "Fierce Advocate" for the LGBTQ community is as of yet in the same territory. The promise to rebuild Afghanistan was deferred to the point where it may yet be impossible to carry out.in favor of our misadventure in Iraq, where we may never have had the chance to keep the promises we made.
Let alone the promise of freedom of religion. Seriously. What the fuck. Even Jon Stewart doesn't get it. He equates the GOP talking point that the Park51 Islamic Center is a monument of victory for terrorists with the counter-argument that the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan is celebrating opposition to the mosque. He says, in this clip, "How about we not give a fuck about what the terrorists think."
I love Jon Stewart, but I often get pissed at the false equivalences that he espouses. This one clocks in at eight megatons. Simply put, the War on Terror, for lack of a better phrase, is not solely a military engagement, even where we have boots on the ground. Indeed, General David Petraeus' Counter-Insurgency strategy in Afghanistan explicitly depends on a commitment to dismantling the Taliban/Al-Queda narrative that America is at war with Islam. When 70% of Americans express an intent to force the Cordoba House off of the property that they rightfully own because they don't think it's American enough to be two blocks away from Ground Zero, they are reinforcing that narrative. They are making it easier for the enemies of freedom to recruit new blood, raise money, and be accepted by a greater percentage of the Muslim world.
This may not come as a surprise, but this opposition isn't really about Ground Zero being hallowed ground. At least, it isn't only about that. Ever since 9/11, plans for new mosques and Islamic centers across the country have been beleaguered by the opposition of unscrupulous bigots. In 2008, I helped my friend Matt Porter shoot interviews for his documentary about such a conflict in Boston. Today, it's worse. Local politicians have felt completely safe adding their voices to the mix, most likely emboldened because of the public support for those speaking out against Park51 in Manhattan (whose residents, it should be pointed out, don't oppose its construction). In Tennesee, it's gotten violent.
Recently, Sarah Palin, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell all spoke out against a Gainesville pastor's plans to stage a burning of Qurans outside his parish. Thanks are, I suppose, in order. But only for Senator McConnell. The former two each in their statements equated burning the Quran to building a mosque within two blocks of ground zero. Later that same day, the asshole from Gainesville said that he'd be willing to call his stunt off, so long as the Park51 project was cancelled. I won't go so far as to say that he got the notion from Palin and Boehner-- suffice to say that until that day he hadn't mentioned the mosque at all in conjunction with the burning-- but in any case the two of them can fuck right the hell off. I'm assuming that I don't need to explain here the difference between a scene ripped from the pages of Bradbury-- or some of the more unfortunate chapters of history-- and building a place of worship specifically meant to foster inter-faith dialogue.
After a warning from General David Petraeus about the ramifications of such a stunt (which even without actually having taken place, has already resulted in at least one death), a personal phone call from Secretary Gates, an appeal from President Obama, the cajoling of a local imam who shares his belief that Park51 should be moved from the apparent Islam Exclusion Zone around Ground Zero, and far more publicity than one would have hoped he'd be getting (though apparently it was a big story overseas even before it got national attention here), he has as of this very moment backed off. Last word is that he's arrived New York to meet with the leadership of the Park51 project, though the Imam in charge had specifically stated that no talks would take place on 9/11. I suppose I'm cynical enough to assume that he's going to make some manner of an ass of himself before the day is out.
This should be obvious, but let me make a note here. Causality does not equal justification. When I say that the death of a protester in Kabul was, predictably, the result of the threat to burn the Quran, I'm not saying that the protest itself, which involved a crowd overrunning a NATO base, was at all justified, or that the scapegoating of Americans by some Muslims in Afghanistan is any more valid than the scapegoating of Muslims by some Americans. Indeed, as I would sneer at such action being taken as a result of an American flag burning-- and as I do, in fact, sneer at the perennial attempts to exempt flag burning from the First Amendment-- I find this reaction to be incomprehensible. The point is, it is utterly predictable. And when your actions have a predictable consequence-- one in fact that you've been warned about-- it doesn't matter how venal the intermediaries between your actions and the unwanted consequence are. This pastor undoubtedly owns a piece-- however small-- of this human tragedy in Afghanistan.
I find it bitterly ironic to be making the argument that my fellow Americans have, with their words and attitudes, undermined our military and civilian efforts to combat violent extremism in Afghanistan and around the globe. The same people who shamed opponents of the Iraq War as un-American are now turning a deaf ear to the pleas of General Petraeus, whose word they took as Gospel once upon a time. So much for deferring to our generals on matters of national security.
This should be obvious, but let me make a note here. Causality does not equal justification. When I say that the death of a protester in Kabul was, predictably, the result of the threat to burn the Quran, I'm not saying that the protest itself, which involved a crowd overrunning a NATO base, was at all justified, or that the scapegoating of Americans by some Muslims in Afghanistan is any more valid than the scapegoating of Muslims by some Americans. Indeed, as I would sneer at such action being taken as a result of an American flag burning-- and as I do, in fact, sneer at the perennial attempts to exempt flag burning from the First Amendment-- I find this reaction to be incomprehensible. The point is, it is utterly predictable. And when your actions have a predictable consequence-- one in fact that you've been warned about-- it doesn't matter how venal the intermediaries between your actions and the unwanted consequence are. This pastor undoubtedly owns a piece-- however small-- of this human tragedy in Afghanistan.
I find it bitterly ironic to be making the argument that my fellow Americans have, with their words and attitudes, undermined our military and civilian efforts to combat violent extremism in Afghanistan and around the globe. The same people who shamed opponents of the Iraq War as un-American are now turning a deaf ear to the pleas of General Petraeus, whose word they took as Gospel once upon a time. So much for deferring to our generals on matters of national security.
The leadership of the Republican Party-- with the notable and commendable exception of Orrin Hatch-- have as of this writing failed to make any real effort to repudiate this new wave of Islamophobia. Presumptive candidates for the Republican nomination continue to ally themselves with figures who are to this day perpetrating the myth that America is at war with Islam. And yet, they say, Muslims will still enjoy freedom of religion.
As long as grass grows or water runs.
