As we finish honoring past heroes on the 75th anniversary of D-Day and move toward Flag Day on June 14th, it seems a fitting time to think about what it is that we honor in these moments of reflection . . . and whether our own actions and behavior are consistent with this desire to honor.
There is something unique and great about this country. Sometimes, I think Superman got it right: we are all about truth, justice, and the American way.
But those values are under attack, and the prognosis seems grim.
Take truth. As a philosophy major trained in journalism who served two years on a standing grand jury, I recognize that truth can be an elusive concept. But unless you want to jump on the bandwagon of whatever hits your fancy, I’d vote for adopting and acting on information that meets traditional judicial criteria—a preponderance of the evidence as in civil cases, or, in situations involving great costs or risk, living up to the criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.
But with a president, who as of April 19, hit the 10,000 mark in easily documented untruths (or lies if you don’t feel a need to quibble about his intent), we don’t seem a a nation who cares about truth. We seemed inclined to believe what we want to believe.
But for those among you who anti-vaxers, climate change deniers, fans of the largest inauguration crowds ever, taxes-aren’t-tariffs thinkers or “only Fox or MSNBC can be believed” believers, could you win over a jury of your peers?
Well, perhaps, you’d rather move on to justice. But I wonder. Is it just to change laws (such as the recent adjustments in treating nuclear waste) that make it easier to leave a poisoned earth for our children instead of paying the bill today? Is it just to walk away from our allies of 75 years to play footsie with dictators in North Korea and Russia? Is it just to find ways to keep citizens from being able to vote? Is it just to promote an every growing society of inequality?
Admittedly, the concept of justice may ultimately be in the mind of the beholder. Still, I like to think our Founding Fathers had the right idea: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Which brings me to the American Way. That phrase wasn’t part of the original Superman stories. It was added during the dark days of WWII and then dropped, only to return in the radio series during the paranoid Fifties. Since then the phrase has come and gone.
Still in a week when we honor our war heroes and our flag, it seems appropriate to contemplate how to define the American Way. Maybe it would be good to try to return to your younger self in a seventh grade civics class. What might you have said then as an idealistic youth?
Whatever your answer, one thing is certain: the young men on the beaches of Normandy for fighting for us and our country and all that represents. They were fighting against a tyrant who spoke in mad rants, demonized people, and was willing to sacrifice anything for his own dreams of glory.
We should honor their memory and sacrifice by being as brave.
Kirkus Reviews describes my latest novel as “a finely crafted story about late-in-life regrets.” The Long Table Dinneris available on Amazon and other bookseller sites. Please check out all my novels in paperback or Kindle format, including: Tales From the Loon Town Cafe, The Finnish Girl, and The Devil’s Analyst.
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