Hannah’s Blog

An epiphany of sorts is what I think I had after a brief conversation with a gentleman waiting to get in to see John McCain at the Rochester Opera House yesterday. It was a very ad hoc conversation and I don’t even know how it started. But, for some reason, I voiced my agreement that it’s important to conserve things–i.e. be a conservative–such as our natural resources and our individual rights.

Then I added how I’d really come to appreciate Justice Anthony Kennedy and how much we owe (the supposedly conservative Justice) for affirming the rule of law and the Constitution and protecting our rights. To which the gentleman responded that Kennedy is the equivalent of a traitor because in two opinions (I was surprised at the precision of his response, as if he’s really thought about it a lot), Kennedy had referred back to those European laws, which we had “rejected with our Declaration of Independence.”

It took me a few seconds to even register that the gentleman was talking about the Magna Carta, from which our tradition of habeus corpus is derived and I didn’t make a good rejoinder. When I mumbled that these are human rights which are derived from the Creator, he launched right into the right to life, “even for the unborn.” And, as the line was moving and we were approaching the metal detectors and the people with wands, that was the end of the conversation. He’d got the last word about his opposition to partial birth abortion, with which it isn’t really possible to argue.

Besides, my brain was still sort of stuck and what’s resonated in my brain overnight was the reference to the European laws. And that’s where my epiphany lies. For, it’s suddenly struck me that what we’re dealing with with the conservative rank and file is Europhobia; that when George H.W. Bush talked about the New World Order and Donald Rumsfeld spoke dismissively of Old Europe and predicted the imminent demise of the European Union, they were appealing to Europhobics. So, for example, the derision of all things French, including John Kerry, wasn’t prompted by antagonism toward the French themselves but towards anything European. Socialism (and socialized medicine) is bad because it’s European. Islamic immigrants are bad because Europe has allowed itself to be over-run with them. Ditto for the liberal attitude towards drug use by the Dutch.

On the other hand European Jews in Israel can do no wrong because they’ve, like true Americans, rejected Europe. The invasion of Iraq is not only good because it’s going to fix what the European colonial interests did wrong–just like we were going to fix what the French had done wrong in Vietnam–but because America is going to free the Iraqis, just like we did Europe, whether they like it or not.

Moreover, it’s the lack of Europhobia which differentiates African Americans from real Americans. That they haven’t reject their African roots doesn’t help, either. Which is why one might suspect that Obama’s implicit rejection of his father, together with his rightful pride in his grandfather (and great uncle) having helped “save” Europe from the Nazis is a mitigating factor in some conservative minds.

I expect that the audience’s reaction to John McCain’s reference to the importance of nuclear energy (with which New Hampshire is very familiar) as a source of “clean” energy also contributed to my epiphany. Although there was virtually no reaction, at first, probably because most New Hampshiremen are still ambivalent about Seabrook, and the mention of 45 new reactors didn’t make much of an impression either, when McCain began to recount how France relies on nuclear power for 80% of its electricity, he apparently sensed the negative vibes and sought to dispel them with a quip about how we all admire the French–not. Sensing that the example of European France undermines the nuclear argument, he dropped the subject like a hot potato.

On the other side of the Europhobic coin we would seem find what I’ll refer to as American exceptionalism. For these Americans, being the best or the most is perceived as inherently good, even if the most is a negative like having the most people in prison or the most violent crime or the most notches on one’s belt. While the leadership is focused on power, what seems important to their followers about being a super power is the super, rather than the power. Super Size Us is a positive.

The importance of being super/superior also helps explain, I think, the really negative Rochester audience reaction to the suggestion (by an aggressive questioner who’s gotten lots of coverage in the media, including CNN, ABC and NPR) that America invaded Iraq for the oil. Conservative Americans have to believe that our military was sent to save Iraq, to free them from a despot (just like we freed Europe) and if the Iraqis aren’t appreciative, well, that’s just like Europe, too. It just goes to show that Americans are better. They do things for people without expecting to be paid-back.

Seen from this perspective, everything looks different–even the pictures of smiling troops at Abu Ghraib, obviously making the best of things, having a little sport in a desperate situation! I’m reminded of the song from Annie Oakley

Anything you can do, I can do better.
I can do anything better than you.*

Which, by the way, features the refrain “Yes, I can.”

Where does this attitude come from? This determination to be better than someone else? I still think it’s rooted in insecurity. Some Americans have a need to be better than someone else, just to feel good about themselves. Which may also account for why they like bad news from around the globe. Everything’s relative. If people are starving in Africa, then their descendants here, even if they’re on welfare, are doing just fine. If the Chinese are manufacturing everything we buy and polluting their own air, then the American environment can be cleaner. And that’s good for us.

On the other hand, having to buy oil from foreigners is a bad thing because it makes Americans more insecure–or less secure. That’s why we should be drilling for our own oil. If there’s a big sea of oil underground as it seems (people have been predicting we’d run out for forty years and it still hasn’t come to pass) why should we let other nations pump it and pay them for what should be ours? See? It makes perfect sense, if you have the proper perspective. Americans are exceptional people and deserve to be proud and to have the best. Whether or not they actually do, doesn’t matter. It’s the dream that counts. And the pride.

It’s important to be proud to be an American. And that’s what’s hard for Americans who are into DOING, rather than BEING, to understand.

*******************************************

Lyrics from Annie Get Your Gun, sung by

ANNIE OAKLEY + FRANK BUTLER:
Anything you can do,
I can do better.
I can do anything
Better than you.

No, you can’t.
Yes, I can. No, you can’t.
Yes, I can. No, you can’t.
Yes, I can,
Yes, I can!

Anything you can be
I can be greater.
Sooner or later,
I’m greater than you.

No, you’re not. Yes, I am.
No, you’re not. Yes, I am.
No, you’re NOT!. Yes, I am.
Yes, I am!

I can shoot a partridge
With a single cartridge.
I can get a sparrow
With a bow and arrow.
I can live on bread and cheese.
And only on that?
Yes.
So can a rat!
Any note you can reach
I can go higher.
I can sing anything
Higher than you.
No, you can’t. (High)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can’t. (Higher)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can’t. (Higher)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can’t. (Higher)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can’t. (Higher)
Yes, I CAN! (Highest)

Anything you can buy
I can buy cheaper.
I can buy anything
Cheaper than you.

Fifty cents?
Forty cents! Thirty cents?
Twenty cents! No, you can’t!
Yes, I can,
Yes, I can!
Anything you can say
I can say softer.
I can say anything
Softer than you.
No, you can’t. (Softly)
Yes, I can. (Softer) No, you can’t. (Softer)
Yes, I can. (Softer) No, you can’t. (Softer)
Yes, I can. (Softer)
YES, I CAN! (Full volume)
I can drink my liquor
Faster than a flicker.
I can drink it quicker
And get even sicker!
I can open any safe.
Without bein’ caught?
Sure.
That’s what I thought–
you crook!
Any note you can hold
I can hold longer.
I can hold any note
Longer than you.

No, you can’t.
Yes, I can No, you can’t.
Yes, I can No, you can’t.
Yes, I can
Yes, I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I No, you C-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-N’T–
CA-A-A-A-N! (Cough, cough!)
Yes, you ca-a-a-an!

Anything you can wear
I can wear better.
In what you wear
I’d look better than you.
In my coat?
In your vest! In my shoes?
In your hat! No, you can’t!
Yes, I can
Yes, I CAN!
Anything you say
I can say faster.
I can say anything
Faster than you.
No, you can’t. (Fast)
Yes, I can. (Faster) No, you can’t. (Faster)
Yes, I can. (Faster) Noyoucan’t. (Faster)
YesIcan! (Fastest)
I can jump a hurdle.
I can wear a girdle.
I can knit a sweater.
I can fill it better!
I can do most anything!
Can you bake a pie? No.
Neither can I.
Anything you can sing
I can sing sweeter.
I can sing anything
Sweeter than you.
No, you can’t. (Sweetly)
Yes, I can. (Sweeter) No, you can’t. (Sweeter)
Yes, I can. (Sweeter) No, you can’t. (Sweeter)
Yes, I can. (Sweeter) No, you can’t, can’t, can’t (sweeter)
Yes, I can, can, can (Sugary)

Yes, I can! No, you can’t!