Truth, justice, and the American way

Figures of Soviet soldiers at the base of a Soviet Army monument transformed into superheroes in Sofia, Bulgaria.

“Well, Doctor, what have we got, a Republic or a Monarchy?”
“A Republic, if you can keep it.” —Benjamin Franklin (attributed)

On this thirteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States — on United Airlines Flight 93, the World Trade Center in New York City, and The Pentagon in Washington, D.C. — we remember those who were murdered by those who hated America. We should also understand that there are still those with a deadly hatred for this country and all for which it stands (see the documentary America: Imagine a World Without Her, and its companion book by Dinesh D'Souza).

But we should also remind ourselves that there are so many of us in the United States and around the world who still believe in and want to preserve all that is good about the U.S.A.

This startling and oddly reassuring image showed up recently in a newsfeed from, of all places, the Moscow Times. I tweeted it almost right away.

Bulgarians believe in American exceptionalism, even if Obama does not. http://t.co/zYabbFiHzK #tcot pic.twitter.com/iSyORc9bDm
— Matt Abe (@mattabe) September 4, 2014

President Obama said, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism, and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” With all due respect, Mr. President, if every country is exceptional, no country is exceptional. Perhaps that was your point.

That Bulgarian graffiti artists would transform a Soviet military monument into a monument to American superheroes (and Santa Claus and is that Ronald McDonald??) is remarkable on multiple levels. People from other countries often understand American exceptionalism better than U.S. citizens who take their country's freedoms and opportunities for granted.

Photograph by Dorothea Lange, Oakland, California, 3/13/42, for the War Relocation Authority. University of California collection.

Japanese Americans of my parents' generation who happened to live on the West Coast in 1942 suffered terrible racism and were unjustly incarcerated in camps for years. It was illegal for those born in Japan and other Asian nations to become naturalized U.S. citizens until 1952. Yet many of them enlisted in the U.S. military, fought with valor, and remained in the U.S. to help raise the Baby Boom generation.

Why? Around the turn of the twentieth century, their parents immigrated to this country, with no hope for a better future in Japan, many homeless, rising to the middle class in a generation. They believed in American ideals, some dying on the battlefield defending those ideals, even when America sometimes did not live up to them. In short, they were Americans.

Family friends of ours fled Castro's Cuba during the 1960s. They often wonder what would happen if the United States fundamentally changes from its founding principles of freedom. “Where would we go?” they ask.

Fly the flag, petition the government with your grievances, thank a military veteran, say the Pledge of Allegiance, write a letter to the editor, teach your children why they should know the Constitution. Their future, and our country's future, depends on it. It's our country — if we can keep it.

Patriots Day 2007: "This war is lost"

"This war is lost, and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq." —U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, April 19, 2007

On April 19, 1775, the American patriots confronted British troops at Lexington and Concord, firing the "shot heard round the world" that began the American Revolution. You can read the first stanza of Emerson's poem, Concord Hymn, at the base of the famous Minuteman statue in Concord, Massachusetts:

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood;
And fired the shot heard round the world.

We have a support-the-troops ministry at my church, which recently sent care packages of magazines, puzzle books, and other nice tokens to let our military sons, daughters, grandchildren, and friends know that we are thinking of and praying for them. Here is an excerpt from the thank-you note we received from one of the recipients, a U.S. Marine named Andrea:

Thank you very much for the care package you sent me. It was very thoughtful and much appreciated. It is comforting to know so many people are thinking and praying for me and all the other troops out here. Life in Baghdad has been very interesting since I first came here at the beginning of December. I have enjoyed being here during the historic events such as the Saddam trial and execution, the appointment of General Petraeus and the departure of the US Ambassador of Iraq. Please continue your support of the troops as well as the war in Iraq. We are doing great things out here, never forget those who have died for this war. We must and will be victorious. Our nation depends on it.

It just about kills me to know that Andrea and all of our solidiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines heard or will soon hear Sen. Reid's Patriot Day statement, and that more of our kids in school will hear it than Emerson's Concord Hymn.