The Most Jingoistic Country Song
... that I've heard in the past week or so at least, would have to be "Arlington" by Trace Adkins. From what I can gather, the whole song is about what a great honor it is to die for your country, and end up buried in Arlington Cemetary. Here's the chorus:
And I'm proud to be on this peaceful piece of property / I'm on sacred ground and I'm in the best of company / I'm thankful for those things I've done / I can rest in piece, I'm one of the chosen ones, I made it to Arlington
Okay, okay. The truth is that it's a great honor to be buried in Arlington, and rightfully so. The men and women who die for our country, in any conflict, deserve our utmost respect even if the war they died for was unjust and unfounded. If Trace Adkins (who, like virtually every other country star singing about the troops, has never served in the military) wants to sing about being buried at Arlington, that's his perogative.
But here's the lyric I have a MAJOR FUCKING PROBLEM with:
There's a big White House sits on a hill just up the road / The man inside he cried the day they brought me home
You know what, Trace? The man sitting up inside that White House didn't cry for one goddamned second, not for any of those soldiers buried in Arlington. He's never gone to the funeral of any of the U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. It's true that he's met with some of the soldiers' families, but the fact that he couldn't make it to a single funeral, after 2 and a half years of this war? It's pathetic and coldhearted. From a Washington Post report a couple months ago:
Aides say Bush has not attended a military funeral because he does not want to favor one ultimate sacrifice over another. They point out that he meets frequently with wounded troops and relatives of the dead, and he has remembered fallen soldiers on Memorial Day and similar observances. "Their funerals are a time for their family and friends to mourn and remember their loved one in a private way," said Scott McClellan, White House press secretary.
This is a departure from past presidents' practices. President Jimmy Carter attended ceremonies for troops killed in the failed hostage-rescue mission in Iran. President Ronald Reagan attended a service for Marines killed in Beirut. President Clinton went to Andrews Air Force Base to see the coffins of Americans killed in a terrorist attack in Nairobi in 1998.
Bush's absence from funerals has kept them off the front pages, one of several administration policies that have minimized Americans' exposure to the costs of war. The Pentagon has cracked down on allowing photographs of flag-draped caskets as they arrive at military bases. And, late last year, the administration began enforcing restrictions that keep photographers and reporters some 50 yards from services.
There is still no memorial for the Iraq dead, but their rows in Section 60 show the signs of fresh grief and recent death. Thirteen graves are too new to have tombstones yet; green metal markers with photos of the fallen suffice. Four graves have been filled so recently that they do not even have sod yet, just newly packed earth.
The Iraq dead, mixed with some of the 16 killed in Afghanistan, take up three rows in the cemetery and have begun to fill a fourth.
I wonder if Trace Adkins is aware of all this.
And I'm proud to be on this peaceful piece of property / I'm on sacred ground and I'm in the best of company / I'm thankful for those things I've done / I can rest in piece, I'm one of the chosen ones, I made it to Arlington
Okay, okay. The truth is that it's a great honor to be buried in Arlington, and rightfully so. The men and women who die for our country, in any conflict, deserve our utmost respect even if the war they died for was unjust and unfounded. If Trace Adkins (who, like virtually every other country star singing about the troops, has never served in the military) wants to sing about being buried at Arlington, that's his perogative.
But here's the lyric I have a MAJOR FUCKING PROBLEM with:
There's a big White House sits on a hill just up the road / The man inside he cried the day they brought me home
You know what, Trace? The man sitting up inside that White House didn't cry for one goddamned second, not for any of those soldiers buried in Arlington. He's never gone to the funeral of any of the U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. It's true that he's met with some of the soldiers' families, but the fact that he couldn't make it to a single funeral, after 2 and a half years of this war? It's pathetic and coldhearted. From a Washington Post report a couple months ago:
Aides say Bush has not attended a military funeral because he does not want to favor one ultimate sacrifice over another. They point out that he meets frequently with wounded troops and relatives of the dead, and he has remembered fallen soldiers on Memorial Day and similar observances. "Their funerals are a time for their family and friends to mourn and remember their loved one in a private way," said Scott McClellan, White House press secretary.
This is a departure from past presidents' practices. President Jimmy Carter attended ceremonies for troops killed in the failed hostage-rescue mission in Iran. President Ronald Reagan attended a service for Marines killed in Beirut. President Clinton went to Andrews Air Force Base to see the coffins of Americans killed in a terrorist attack in Nairobi in 1998.
Bush's absence from funerals has kept them off the front pages, one of several administration policies that have minimized Americans' exposure to the costs of war. The Pentagon has cracked down on allowing photographs of flag-draped caskets as they arrive at military bases. And, late last year, the administration began enforcing restrictions that keep photographers and reporters some 50 yards from services.
There is still no memorial for the Iraq dead, but their rows in Section 60 show the signs of fresh grief and recent death. Thirteen graves are too new to have tombstones yet; green metal markers with photos of the fallen suffice. Four graves have been filled so recently that they do not even have sod yet, just newly packed earth.
The Iraq dead, mixed with some of the 16 killed in Afghanistan, take up three rows in the cemetery and have begun to fill a fourth.
I wonder if Trace Adkins is aware of all this.