Not My Kind of National Unity!

May 27, 2008

Say these words to yourself:  “Every day the federal government kills someone in my name.  Every day the federal government tortures someone in my name.  Every day the federal government destroys a home or livelihood in my name.  Every day the federal government refuses help to a wounded veteran in my name.”

These words bring a reality to the National Moment of Remembrance enacted by the Congress of the United States.  On Memorial Day it is no longer enough to fly a flag, sign the jingoistic song “God Bless America” and watch carefully screened Veterans march in a parade.  We are now required by law to take a minute as “an act of national unity.”  All of professional baseball stopped to participate.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I have no problem with national unity.  I am proud (mostly) to be an American.  I love traveling this beautiful nation and meeting its people.  Seeing the prairies, the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the cities, the pastures, is one of the great delights of my job.

I have no problem remembering the sacrifices and lives of military personnel.  I weep that they died providing what they felt was a service to their country.

But I do have a problem when my tears are co-opted to mean “national unity” in support of the war.  I have a problem when “national unity” implies I support killing Iraqis, Afghanis, Iranians, Colombians, or Americans in the process of killing others.  I have a problem when “national unity” implies I support torture or the destruction of people’s property or lives without even the merest scintilla of due process of law.  I have a problem when “national unity” implies I support the mistreatment of the men and women who joined the military and have suffered for it.

I will not join in that “national unity.”