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American-Hating Media Threatens National Survival
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| Caroline Kennedy, seen here reading Molly Learns a Lesson, to a group of children in August 2006, wrote a book of her own, A Patriot’s Handbook. Herb Denenberg feels the book is filled with patriotic gems, some well known and some not widely known. (Ezio Petersen/UPI) |
The Advocate
By Herb Denenberg, The Bulletin
The corrosive hatred of America that is so commonplace in the mainstream media, the academic community and even in the federal bureaucracy can destroy America. As William Bennett put it so well in the introduction to his book, The American Patriot’s Almanac.
“At the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a Philadelphia lady asked Benjamin Franklin, ‘Well, Doctor, what have we got — a republic or a monarchy?’ Franklin replied, ‘A republic, if you can keep it.’ The United States, with all its might, isn’t likely to be conquered from the outside anytime soon. If American liberty loses its luster, the dimming will come from within. It will be due to our own lack of attention and devotion. Without patriotism, there cannot be a United States. It falls upon us — upon you and me — to take care of this miraculous American democracy, to make it work, to love it.”
When the hate-America types spread their venom that’s the opposite of taking care of this miraculous country, the opposite of making it work the opposite of loving it. When we forget all the signs and symbols of patriotism, when we forget the songs and poems extolling America, when we forget the great documents that established the nation and that have explained and reinforced its values and ideals, we are making a serious mistake. Yes, it is important to bring patriotism back in style.
That’s why books like Mr. Bennett’s The American Patriot’s Almanac, like Caroline Kennedy’s, A Patriot’s Handbook, like David Hackett Fischer’s, Liberty and Freedom and like John and Kay Tajirian’s, Proud to Be an American are important.
I was browsing through them and was surprised at how many famous pieces I found that most people (myself included) are probably not familiar with.
One is “The American’s Creed.” This creed was the winner of a nationwide contest during World War I to produce the best statement of American political faith. William Tyler Page of Maryland won the contest, and the U.S. House of Representatives accepted Page’s work as “The American Creed.” Here’s that creed, as presented in Mr. Bennett’s book:
“I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a Republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.
“I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag; and to defend it against all enemies.”
The Creed effectively draws on the great American documents including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Gettysburg Address. The creed makes patriotism part of the duties of every American.
One of my other favorites is Mark Twain’s answer to America’s foreign critics, an answer we should sound right now:
“If I look harried and worn, it is not from an ill-conscience. It is from sitting up nights to worry about the foreign critic. He won’t concede that we have a civilization — a ‘real’ civilization … [He] said we have never contributed anything to the betterment of the world …
“We are called the nation of inventors. And we are. We could still claim that title and wear its loftiest honors, if we had stopped with the first thing we ever invented — which was human liberty … We have contributed nothing. Nothing hurts like ingratitude.”
What is Twain thinking after America saved the world from Nazi Germany National Socialism, Italian Fascism, Imperial Japan, Soviet Communism and now leads the battle against Islamofascism and all we get is mainly hatred and disdain in return?
I was also struck by another of the books, Liberty and Freedom. First, I was struck by its title and its revelation about the place of those two words — liberty and freedom:
“Every Western language has the words such as liberty or freedom, but only one language employs them both in common speech. German, Dutch, and Scandinavian cultures have freedom but not liberty. Spanish, French, and Italian have liberty but not freedom. Philosopher Hannah Pitkin writes, ‘Speakers of English have a unique opportunity: they get to choose between ‘liberty’ and ‘freedom.’ No other European language, ancient or modern, offers such a choice.’ ” Sometimes the words are used synonymously; sometimes they are attached to different meanings.
This book has many complicated explanations of liberty and freedom, but the one that cuts to the heart of the matter is the simplest — from Capt. Levi Preston, who fought at Lexington and Concord and spoke when he was 91. He was asked a long series of questions of why he was so eager to fight at Lexington and Concord.
For example, he was asked if he was oppressed by the Stamp Act? He replied, “I never saw any stamps…”
He was then asked if it was the tea tax. His reply, “Tea tax? I never drank a drop of the stuff. The boys threw it all overboard!”
After more questions and answers, Capt. Preston explained why he fought to his questioner:
“Young man, what we meant in going for those Redcoats was this: we always had been free, and we meant to be free always. They didn’t mean we should!”
Caroline Kennedy’s, A Patriot’s Handbook is also filled with patriotic gems, some well known, some not widely known. One of my favorites is Judge Learned Hand’s address at “I Am An American” Day at Central Park, New York City on May 11, 1944. He said, in part:
“What, then, is the spirit of liberty? I cannot define it; I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its own without bias; the spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded.
“The spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him who, near two thousand years ago, taught mankind that lesson it has never learned, but never quite forgotten; that there may be a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest.
“And now … in the spirit of that America for which our young men are at this moment fighting and dying, in that spirit of liberty and of America, I ask you to rise and with me pledge our faith in the glorious destiny of our beloved country.”
And now I come to a fourth volume, a little 48-page paperback, which may pack the most powerful punch of all these superb collections of patriotic material, not because of its content but because of its source. It carries the title “Proud to Be an American.” It was written and published not by professional authors and a professional publisher but by two ordinary citizens who explain their purpose on the title page:
“A time to say thank you to all of our veterans and troops deployed throughout the world. Kay and I are publishing this booklet as an expression of our family’s love for our country and to say thank you to our service men and women.”
The booklet was compiled and printed by John and Kay Tajirian of Craig-Smith Printers of Drexel Hill. They have been distributing free of charge to ignite the spirit of patriotism.
At the start of this little booklet are two pages of powerful quotations. Among them:
“O my fellow citizens, each of you carries on your shoulders not only the burden of doing well for the sake of your country, but the burden of doing well and seeing that this nation does well for the sake of mankind.” President Theodore Roosevelt said that long ago, but it probably has a more important ring of truth now than ever before, when the future not only of our nation but our world hangs on the strength, determination and values of America.
“The invention in this country of a new for m of Government and the production of the Constitution of the United States stand as one of the most remarkable inventions in the history of man.” With that statement, I’d say Alexander Graham Bell was a man whose wisdom extended far beyond telephony.
The little booklet calls attention to the fourth stanza of Katherine Lee Bates’ “America the Beautiful,” which has special relevance when honoring our military heroes:
“O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife
Who more than self
Their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!”
And the booklet calls attention to a great poem of World War I, “In Flanders Fields,” which still rings as true and as powerful as ever. It is incorporated in the military funeral honors. It is noted that World War I veterans adopted the poppy as a symbol of comradeship and say goodbye to their fallen comrades by reading the poem, which is as follows:
“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely sing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below,
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Field.
Take up our quarrel with the foe,
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; Be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though
poppies grow
In Flanders Field.”
The reader of the poem, a soldier, then says, “I would like to place a poppy with our fallen comrade as a token of our enduring comradeship. Farewell my comrade.”
The author of that poem, Lt. Col. John McCrae, was a member of the first Canadian contingent. He died in France on Jan. 28, 1918, after four years of service on the western front.
Herb Denenberg is a former Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner, and professor at the Wharton School. He is a longtime Philadelphia journalist and consumer advocate. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of the Sciences. His column appears daily in The Bulletin. You can reach him at advocate@thebulletin.us.
“At the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a Philadelphia lady asked Benjamin Franklin, ‘Well, Doctor, what have we got — a republic or a monarchy?’ Franklin replied, ‘A republic, if you can keep it.’ The United States, with all its might, isn’t likely to be conquered from the outside anytime soon. If American liberty loses its luster, the dimming will come from within. It will be due to our own lack of attention and devotion. Without patriotism, there cannot be a United States. It falls upon us — upon you and me — to take care of this miraculous American democracy, to make it work, to love it.”
When the hate-America types spread their venom that’s the opposite of taking care of this miraculous country, the opposite of making it work the opposite of loving it. When we forget all the signs and symbols of patriotism, when we forget the songs and poems extolling America, when we forget the great documents that established the nation and that have explained and reinforced its values and ideals, we are making a serious mistake. Yes, it is important to bring patriotism back in style.
That’s why books like Mr. Bennett’s The American Patriot’s Almanac, like Caroline Kennedy’s, A Patriot’s Handbook, like David Hackett Fischer’s, Liberty and Freedom and like John and Kay Tajirian’s, Proud to Be an American are important.
I was browsing through them and was surprised at how many famous pieces I found that most people (myself included) are probably not familiar with.
One is “The American’s Creed.” This creed was the winner of a nationwide contest during World War I to produce the best statement of American political faith. William Tyler Page of Maryland won the contest, and the U.S. House of Representatives accepted Page’s work as “The American Creed.” Here’s that creed, as presented in Mr. Bennett’s book:
“I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a Republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.
“I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag; and to defend it against all enemies.”
The Creed effectively draws on the great American documents including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Gettysburg Address. The creed makes patriotism part of the duties of every American.
One of my other favorites is Mark Twain’s answer to America’s foreign critics, an answer we should sound right now:
“If I look harried and worn, it is not from an ill-conscience. It is from sitting up nights to worry about the foreign critic. He won’t concede that we have a civilization — a ‘real’ civilization … [He] said we have never contributed anything to the betterment of the world …
“We are called the nation of inventors. And we are. We could still claim that title and wear its loftiest honors, if we had stopped with the first thing we ever invented — which was human liberty … We have contributed nothing. Nothing hurts like ingratitude.”
What is Twain thinking after America saved the world from Nazi Germany National Socialism, Italian Fascism, Imperial Japan, Soviet Communism and now leads the battle against Islamofascism and all we get is mainly hatred and disdain in return?
I was also struck by another of the books, Liberty and Freedom. First, I was struck by its title and its revelation about the place of those two words — liberty and freedom:
“Every Western language has the words such as liberty or freedom, but only one language employs them both in common speech. German, Dutch, and Scandinavian cultures have freedom but not liberty. Spanish, French, and Italian have liberty but not freedom. Philosopher Hannah Pitkin writes, ‘Speakers of English have a unique opportunity: they get to choose between ‘liberty’ and ‘freedom.’ No other European language, ancient or modern, offers such a choice.’ ” Sometimes the words are used synonymously; sometimes they are attached to different meanings.
This book has many complicated explanations of liberty and freedom, but the one that cuts to the heart of the matter is the simplest — from Capt. Levi Preston, who fought at Lexington and Concord and spoke when he was 91. He was asked a long series of questions of why he was so eager to fight at Lexington and Concord.
For example, he was asked if he was oppressed by the Stamp Act? He replied, “I never saw any stamps…”
He was then asked if it was the tea tax. His reply, “Tea tax? I never drank a drop of the stuff. The boys threw it all overboard!”
After more questions and answers, Capt. Preston explained why he fought to his questioner:
“Young man, what we meant in going for those Redcoats was this: we always had been free, and we meant to be free always. They didn’t mean we should!”
Caroline Kennedy’s, A Patriot’s Handbook is also filled with patriotic gems, some well known, some not widely known. One of my favorites is Judge Learned Hand’s address at “I Am An American” Day at Central Park, New York City on May 11, 1944. He said, in part:
“What, then, is the spirit of liberty? I cannot define it; I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its own without bias; the spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded.
“The spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him who, near two thousand years ago, taught mankind that lesson it has never learned, but never quite forgotten; that there may be a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest.
“And now … in the spirit of that America for which our young men are at this moment fighting and dying, in that spirit of liberty and of America, I ask you to rise and with me pledge our faith in the glorious destiny of our beloved country.”
And now I come to a fourth volume, a little 48-page paperback, which may pack the most powerful punch of all these superb collections of patriotic material, not because of its content but because of its source. It carries the title “Proud to Be an American.” It was written and published not by professional authors and a professional publisher but by two ordinary citizens who explain their purpose on the title page:
“A time to say thank you to all of our veterans and troops deployed throughout the world. Kay and I are publishing this booklet as an expression of our family’s love for our country and to say thank you to our service men and women.”
The booklet was compiled and printed by John and Kay Tajirian of Craig-Smith Printers of Drexel Hill. They have been distributing free of charge to ignite the spirit of patriotism.
At the start of this little booklet are two pages of powerful quotations. Among them:
“O my fellow citizens, each of you carries on your shoulders not only the burden of doing well for the sake of your country, but the burden of doing well and seeing that this nation does well for the sake of mankind.” President Theodore Roosevelt said that long ago, but it probably has a more important ring of truth now than ever before, when the future not only of our nation but our world hangs on the strength, determination and values of America.
“The invention in this country of a new for m of Government and the production of the Constitution of the United States stand as one of the most remarkable inventions in the history of man.” With that statement, I’d say Alexander Graham Bell was a man whose wisdom extended far beyond telephony.
The little booklet calls attention to the fourth stanza of Katherine Lee Bates’ “America the Beautiful,” which has special relevance when honoring our military heroes:
“O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife
Who more than self
Their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!”
And the booklet calls attention to a great poem of World War I, “In Flanders Fields,” which still rings as true and as powerful as ever. It is incorporated in the military funeral honors. It is noted that World War I veterans adopted the poppy as a symbol of comradeship and say goodbye to their fallen comrades by reading the poem, which is as follows:
“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely sing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below,
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Field.
Take up our quarrel with the foe,
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; Be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though
poppies grow
In Flanders Field.”
The reader of the poem, a soldier, then says, “I would like to place a poppy with our fallen comrade as a token of our enduring comradeship. Farewell my comrade.”
The author of that poem, Lt. Col. John McCrae, was a member of the first Canadian contingent. He died in France on Jan. 28, 1918, after four years of service on the western front.
Herb Denenberg is a former Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner, and professor at the Wharton School. He is a longtime Philadelphia journalist and consumer advocate. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of the Sciences. His column appears daily in The Bulletin. You can reach him at advocate@thebulletin.us.
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