What's On?

More travels with Greyhawk in search of America.

"Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."
- Captain John Parker, 19 April 1775, to the Minute Men at Lexington

Captain Parker was addressing his 77 men as a lengthy column of British regulars approached the village green. Moments later the American Revolution began in earnest. Everything about the quote is uniquely American, to the point I doubt few from other nations would even know why.

I was reminded of the quote by an episode from a series I caught by pure chance on PBS. Rebels and Redcoats, the story of the American Revolution from a British perspective. I enjoyed the show, it offered insights as to how at least some members of the British media view America, but to make a long story short the producers either just don't get it, or choose to pretend they don't. Memo to Europe: It's this simple, Americans didn't want a King. Still don't. That's concept number one you must grasp in order to gain any further insight into our national psyche.

It's apparent that many Europeans don't get it. A minor illustration: during the tour of Heidelberg Castle the guide points out a portrait of the last ruler of the castle, decked in his finest robes, from somewhere around the late 18th to early 19th centuries. "Many Americans say he looks something like George Washington" the guide notes. Perhaps, but only as far as the powdered wig. The Father of our Country wouldn't be caught dead in royal raiment, had in fact declined a possible crown. Americans don't tolerate that sort of ruler. A subtle miscue on the part of our guide, but to be honest he stated that Americans had first brought this to his attention. So perhaps some Americans are equally lacking in an understanding of their cultural heritage.

Hopefully they won't use the Rebels and Redcoats series as a foundation. The BBC program referred to the Revolution as a "Civil War" - fine, it announced from the start its British perspective. But it also compared the Minutemen to the Viet Cong and the Mujahadeen, after first duly noting that such comparisons shouldn't be made. Bad TV? Perhaps. But I couldn't stop watching. I miss having the PBS option in Europe.

In contrast, it took me two seconds to flip past Jerry Springer. I didn't even know he was still on. Another unwanted welcome back to America. Those who claim that the Abu-Ghraib gang were ignorant Hilljacks too stupid to have come up with their torture methods without the aid of a "mastermind" need only watch any single episode of Jerry Jerry Jerry to realize the ridiculousness of their assertions. Like I said, two seconds...

I caught a bit more than two seconds of the Clinton/Oprah lovefest on the tube the other day, and considered breaking my vow of not touching political/"heavy" topics here for a while. I don't want to dislike Clinton - and I refuse to be like the many rabid members of the anti-Bush because he's Bush crowd. But there was something unbecoming in his performance on Oprah, beyond his mere McLuhan-moment presence there. Although his cries of victimhood and his good vs evil defense (I don't recall that approach during his term. An historical re-write? An option stolen from the Bush playbook, and applied in circumstances far less well defined?) may have seemed Presidential to some segment of the American population, it struck me as anything but.

I suppose that perhaps a book review or a comment on television in America wouldn't count as heavy, would it? (Or does that depend on what you definition of the word "is" is?)

Fortunately, Hugh Hewitt saved me the trouble of violating my oath. He saw the same things I did, and isn't on vacation.

Watching television is another bit of mild reverse-culture shock, and is something I will spend little time doing while in America. I will read though. I don't lack for reading matter in Europe but I do lack time. I spent my transatlantic flight reading, with classical music playing in my headphones, ignoring the movies (Calendar Girls, Open Range, other forgettable fare) and television (Happy Days and some other '70's shows) that Air France offered.

(And for balance, here are some nice things about Air France: The wine was good, and was offered at no additional cost. And they didn't lose my luggage.)

So now, across the country everyone's asking: "What's Greyhawk reading while on vacation?"

Why, blogs, of course. As many as I can, given time and a low-speed dial-up modem connection to the internet. (Rendered slower still by what the Mrs. suspects may be terrorist squirrel attacks on the phone lines in the attic. They always go for the infrastructure.) But also books - those always handy results of the sacrifice of trees. Those glorious gifts from Gutenberg.

I finished The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara's fictionalized account of the battle of Gettysburg on the flight over. I liked it enough to grab a copy of Gods and Generals, the prequel written by the deceased author's son, in hopes the younger Mr. Shaara is as riveting as his father. Given the number of subsequent titles I must assume he's doing something right. (And yes I've seen both movies. They're excellent, the books are better.) Gods and Generals contains about 100 pages prior to those used for the first scenes of the movie.

An excerpt, from a pre-war conversation between Captain Winfield Scott Hancock, USA, and a civic leader in Los Angeles:

"Captain, have you seen Hamilton's newspaper this week? The Star?"

"No, missed it."

That damned idiot. He's filling his paper with all kinds of stories about what's happening back East, the election and all. I know him, he thinks he's fair, I suppose. But he's the only news these people have about Washington. I get letters, some correspondence from Delaware, friends in New York, a great deal of commotion about the election, none of it too positive, but then I read about the same events in Hamilton's "news" and I see his slant, his opinions coming through. And that, Captain, is where your troubles might come from."

"About the election? What kind of trouble?"

"This fellow Lincoln, this Republican... he's got a strong following in the North. Too strong, probably. The Democrats are splitting up, fighting it out with each other. From what I can gather, the Southern cause is hurting itself. But when you read Hamilton, you see Lincoln as the devil himself, and the election as a vote to preserve the America way of life. That kind of rhetoric talks to people's passions, not their good sense."

"What Lincoln is doing is responding. There are vast numbers of... idiots - yes, that's the word - in these state governments, who believe that they can make a good speech, rouse the people into a rebellion and defy... defy the word of God!"

Jackson sat still, absorbed the old man's words, felt confused. "The word of God?"

"Major, this country was founded by good Christian men, on the principles of equality, justice, and all of it under God. That has never been done before, never, in the history of the world! This country is God's model, God's message to the rest of the world. 'Look here! We are God's chosen land, this is how God intends man to be governed.'"

"Colonel, they don't believe I can run this department anymore, that my days are numbered. But - they don't know how to run it either."

"They...?"

"The President. The new administration. Let me tell you, Colonel, they have their hands full of troubles. Full. This man Lincoln... good man. I think. If he gets a chance to... well, if the radicals don't drown him out... there's quite a few people around here that think old Davy Twiggs is a traitor, would have him shot. Would probably have had all of them shot. Probably wouldn't have hesitated, like you just did."

"But... why?"

"Who knows, Colonel - moral outrage, the love of country, the damned flag? People like to be inflamed, get their dander up, and the problem is, it's too easy. It's too easy to make a speech up in New York and scream about killing the rebels when you don't have to look 'em in the eye. Hell, Colonel, you've seen men die. It's not something you get all fired up to enjoy."

"No sir, but I believe there is some of that same... passion in the South. I saw it in Texas, men who just want to fight, to strike out at something, you can see it in the eyes."

Historical fiction, as I said. But as far as food-for-thought goes, this is a well balanced meal. The book is from 1996, by the way, so any resemblance to current events is purely coincidental.

Here's a quote attributed to Churchill, appended to The Killer Angels:

"Thus ended the great American Civil War, which must on the whole be considered the noblest and least avoidable of all the great mass conflicts of which till then there was record."

An interesting perspective from across the Atlantic and through the lens of time.

I've mentioned this before: the red, blue, white, and grey colors of this blog are the colors of the first American Civil War. (Though some of our British cousins may think it the second.) I prefer to think it would be our only one, but our nation is one born of conflict, and disagreement is certainly a by-product of freedom of speech. It's a wonder we don't come to blows more often than we do. More often than not the cooler heads prevail.

And there you have it, America from Revolution to Civil War to now. Heavy? Perhaps, but I suppose history is a hobby of mine. But I'll seek out other subjects too. I never read one book at a time, and this is a long vacation, (and one in which I'll spend equal time north and south of the Mason/Dixon) so here's what's on tap: books by bloggers.

Something from Roger L Simon, to be sure. Having read his blog and even swapped a couple brief e-mails with him I think I'll try something lengthier. I might even track down a movie or two with his name in the credits. (Note of mild irony: Roger is traveling too, visiting a small corner of my world. I look forward to seeing the result.)

For non-fiction, a Hugh Hewitt offering. In But Not Of, I'm looking forward to his next one too. It will be titled If its Not Close They Can't Cheat, and I don't think it's a sequel to Seabiscuit. Blogs are mentioned in both books, I'm told.

And for those who were wondering about that classical music reference above, I'll be listening to Rock and Country too. I enjoy them all. Ain't that America?

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