The day makes me feel like a pledge.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
… to the flag, OK, because an idea needs a totem, but to no one’s definition of that idea but my own. “Patriotism,” said Dr. Johnson memorably on the evening of April 7, 1775, “is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” He did not mean patriots are all scoundrels but that scoundrels camouflage their mischief in patriotism, disguising avidity as generosity, selfishness as its opposite. All noble ideas are violated similarly – the wolf presenting as Little Red Riding Hood’s granny.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
… to the crazy notion our ten-eleven-twelve-greats granfathers worked out on that sweltry summer of 1787 in Philadelphia to prevent this new nation from shattering like a dropped vase or reverting to monarchism. America, like most unprecedented enterprises, began as a sloppy mess, groping for direction in the dark. Who had ever tried self-government on such a scale? The smart money in European capitals bet we couldn’t. No more could kindergartners organize themselves into peaceable assemblies. In nations as in families, humans needed potent daddies to lay down the law. Our Founders reasoned otherwise. Hadn’t they figured out how defeat the world’s preeminent power to win independence? Well, they could win the peace, too – just watch!
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
… not to every word in our founding documents. That’s silly. Rules change with circumstances. Stupid Founders not to foresee the Internet or AK 47’s! Originalists are among the scoundrels Dr. J was referring to. I pledge allegiance, rather, to the belief behind those laws, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, [and] that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The more one thinks about that ideal the more it raises goosebumps. Humans before this had achieved wondrous things – but had any idea unleashed such power in a people? This was no monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny, plutocracy, where the few herded the many like mooing cows; in America, all white propertied men – eventually all people – were born with the same rights and participated equally in the management of their affairs.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
… to the values that arise from that breathtaking commitment. Among them
· Truth: how can liars collaborate?
· Justice: how can order be maintained without respect for law?
· Generosity: the rich getting richer – and richer – is hostile to and destructive of the American ideal. Every baby born deserves food, shelter, education, healthcare, safety, breathable air, potable water, survivable weather, respect, and a fighting chance. No one deserves to earn a million times more than their fellows.
· Courtesy: foul mouths should be washed out with soap, no matter their rank. Vile behavior breeds vile behavior, which corrodes the state.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
… not to an impractical fantasy of a republic, not to any naïve scheme, but the sort of collaborative venture our founders envisioned. How appalled they’d be with the mess we’re making of America, with our cruelty and crudity and avidity and ignorance of the goals they were trying to achieve! That a sizable percentage of Americans no longer believe democracy’s workable would crack their hearts. What went wrong?
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
… to the right sort of America – and to defiant resistance to the corrupters of that ideal. My America is under attack – from within. Scoundrels are posing as patriots, as Dr. Johnson foresaw. My only weapon is words but I’ll keep aiming them till I or my enemy is scotched.