WTB: Patriotic Icon
For the past few years I've used the "Grimacing Rumsfailed" icon (as seen here) for posts about the politics of fail. And in the last eight years I've gotten a lot of use out of this icon - American politicians and citizens have said and done a lot to make me grimace. But I am a patriotic guy, believe it or not. I like America. I say "my country right or wrong" not as Stephen Decatur said it in April 1815, but as Carl Schurz said it in February 1872:
“I confidently trust that the American people will prove themselves … too wise not to detect the false pride or the dangerous ambitions or the selfish schemes which so often hide themselves under that deceptive cry of mock patriotism: ‘Our country, right or wrong!’ They will not fail to recognize that our dignity, our free institutions and the peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: ‘Our country-when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right.’”
I like our legal documents and legal system, mostly. I like our culture and our history, mostly. And I like the people who I meet in this country, mostly. And when "mostly" isn't enough, I like to try to make these things even better. And I need an icon to represent this. An anti-Rumsfailed. A symbol of my patriotic pride when things go right.
Unfortunately most "patriotic" images are more Decatur than Schurz. The eagles and flags seem too much about simple pride and not enough about the history of our struggle to create something worthy of that pride. The military imagery seems to put first what ought to be a last resort, exaggerating foreign battles, and ignoring equally important domestic civil and legal battles. The flags, particularly when painted on the backs of monster trucks or the fronts of women, dogs, and children are a bit too "America, fuck yeah", ignoring or ignorant of the actual reasons why I actually do feel like saying "fuck yeah" from time to time.
I grew up on the east coast and I can think of a few images that seem on the right track. The Lincoln and Jefferson memorials are patriotic and nationalistic but contemplative and substantive. The Statue of Liberty is iconic but its message is open and inclusive. Both of those are in the general category, but I could use perhaps a little less reservation and a little more "America fuck yeah" enthusiasm. If there was a picture of Benjamin Franklin in a party hat with with two French whores that would almost be perfect.
“I confidently trust that the American people will prove themselves … too wise not to detect the false pride or the dangerous ambitions or the selfish schemes which so often hide themselves under that deceptive cry of mock patriotism: ‘Our country, right or wrong!’ They will not fail to recognize that our dignity, our free institutions and the peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: ‘Our country-when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right.’”
I like our legal documents and legal system, mostly. I like our culture and our history, mostly. And I like the people who I meet in this country, mostly. And when "mostly" isn't enough, I like to try to make these things even better. And I need an icon to represent this. An anti-Rumsfailed. A symbol of my patriotic pride when things go right.
Unfortunately most "patriotic" images are more Decatur than Schurz. The eagles and flags seem too much about simple pride and not enough about the history of our struggle to create something worthy of that pride. The military imagery seems to put first what ought to be a last resort, exaggerating foreign battles, and ignoring equally important domestic civil and legal battles. The flags, particularly when painted on the backs of monster trucks or the fronts of women, dogs, and children are a bit too "America, fuck yeah", ignoring or ignorant of the actual reasons why I actually do feel like saying "fuck yeah" from time to time.
I grew up on the east coast and I can think of a few images that seem on the right track. The Lincoln and Jefferson memorials are patriotic and nationalistic but contemplative and substantive. The Statue of Liberty is iconic but its message is open and inclusive. Both of those are in the general category, but I could use perhaps a little less reservation and a little more "America fuck yeah" enthusiasm. If there was a picture of Benjamin Franklin in a party hat with with two French whores that would almost be perfect.