We keep hearing “Washington is broken,” and our political system doesn’t work. It’s hard to argue with such statements, but part of the problem might be that our attention is constantly diverted.
Consider the recent flap about the pastor in Florida who announced plans to burn copies of the Koran. In America, we’re free to express ourselves by burning the Koran, Bible, Book of Mormon, national flag, Buddhavacana, Apocrypha, Bhagavad Gita or yesterday’s newspaper.
There might be reasonable restrictions on burning in general — say, outdoors on a warm, windy day in our foothills — but basically, if you want to torch a text, it’s none of the government’s business.
However, that enlightened attitude is difficult to explain to people in certain other parts of the world, where they see government tolerance of an activity they find abhorrent as government support of such activities. And even if you or I prefer to ignore some deranged Florida minister, in this age of instant global communication, ignoring him is impossible.
So, bingo, there’s a controversy — over something that really shouldn’t be an issue in this country.
Another issue that shouldn’t be an issue is the “ground zero mosque,” which isn’t at ground zero. It’s proposed for private property several blocks away.
I had naively thought that the American Way involved religious freedom and private property rights. But I read that some people are offended by the project. But where is there a legal guarantee that one will never feel offended? It’s pretty difficult to watch TV or even highway billboards for very long without seeing an offense to decency, reason or common sense. But somehow, most of us manage to carry on.
This can get even weirder. Disgraced former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has not faded away. Instead, he blathers, and otherwise reasonable people feel compelled to respond. Most recently, he announced that President Barack Obama suffers from a “Kenyan, anti-colonial” world-view.
Now, I understand that it is an essential element in Tea Party and Republican strategy this year to portray Obama as an immigrant who’s not really as American as he should be. After all, he wasn’t born on the mainland, he didn’t grow up with a trust fund, and his father wasn’t president.
But that said, what’s wrong with an “anti-colonial” view? Isn’t that the most American of attitudes, given that this nation began as a rebellion against a colonial power?
The logical conclusion is that Gingrich must be “pro-colonial.” Thus, July 4 is not celebrated in his household, and he’d prefer that we were a British colonial dominion, something like Canada (socialized medicine and all). If he wants to make that argument, fine. But given the choice between logical consistency and shoving his name before the public, you know which option Gingrich will take.
The way things seem to work these days is that someone raises a stink about something that was never controversial before: “Why are we paying the evil tax-sucking municipal government to plow the streets after snowstorms? After all, I have a four-wheel-drive F-250 pickup with a plow, and so the city is wasting my tax money. It’s subsidizing those short-sighted cheapskates with their dinky two-wheel-drive cars. What happened to the great American tradition of self-reliance? Instead, we’ve got socialism.”
This draws some responses, of course, and soon there’s a full-fledged public argument, diverting thought and attention to no real purpose. Alas, there seems to be no way around it. * * *
I’m scheduled to speak on local lore and rivalries at 7 p.m. Friday in the old courthouse in Buena Vista, at a fund-raiser for the Buena Vista Heritage Society. Call 719-395-6612 for tickets or information.
Ed Quillen (ekquillen@gmail.com) of Salida is a regular contributor to The Denver Post.
