Responses to both the President’s retreat from Syria and the NBA’s kowtowing to China have been refreshingly bipartisan.
I was almost fourteen years old when the World Trade Center attacks shook the nation. Certain memories of that day will forever be etched in my mind. The smoke. The dust. The flames. The horror as the second plane appeared. The devastation as each tower collapsed to the ground. I will never forget the fear and the uncertainty that gripped our nation as we realized it was a deliberate attack, knowing that someone, somewhere had just declared war on us.
But I have other memories of those days as well. I remember getting home that afternoon and hugging my mom, crying in her arms as I asked where our American flag was so I could put it up in the yard. I remember someone standing on top of an interstate overpass, defiantly waving an American flag for the whole world to see. I remember Congress breaking spontaneously into “God Bless America” during a press conference. I remember President Bush on a bullhorn at ground zero, telling the first responders, “I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear us all soon!” I remember the firefighters raising the flag at ground zero and unfurling the flag at the Pentagon. I remember the images of the Rangers parachuting over Bagram airbase. I remember the pictures of Green Berets with their beards and New York Yankees ball caps. I remember the hourlong lines at Red Cross stations to donate blood.
Images of terror and fear had shattered my youthful innocence. I had witnessed the depths to which hate can drive some people. But I was blessed to see a moment in American history when we stood firm and united. I can draw on the memories of those days to always remember that our country is filled with good people who can come together in times of trial. I am a witness of true American greatness.
It’s been many years since those times. We have had very few unifying moments of clarity since then. Peace and tranquility in our nation sometimes seem to stand upon the edge of a knife, as our partisan divide grows ever wider and more hostile. I sometimes wonder if we could still come together, as we did so long ago, or if even such a horrible tragedy could turn us from each other’s throats.
I have to look for and seize upon what glimmers of hope I can find.
Lately, I have found such glimmers in the surprisingly bipartisan responses to President Trump’s retreat from Syria and the NBA’s kowtowing to China. For a moment, if it can last, there are many Americans who are remembering that America is supposed to stand for certain values and behave in a certain way.
It is quintessentially American to stand by our allies. It is fundamental to our nature to cheer for the downtrodden and champion those who yearn to be free. Perhaps this is why leaving the Kurds to face a Turkish onslaught after they fought with us side-by-side against Daesh, and sacrificed 10,000 lives in the fight, feels wrong to so many in both partisan camps. Perhaps this is why watching an American athletic association choose the financial boon of placating mainland China over the Hong Kongers waving American flags has wrought such condemnation from across the ideological spectrum.
Much has been said in recent years by leaders who promised hope and greatness. But where I glimpse hope and where I see greatness is in those rare moments when we remember who we are and what we stand for.
- The Liberty Hawk is Now on Medium - December 9, 2020
- Betraying Allies Is Not the Way to Avoid Being the World’s Police - August 14, 2020
- The Last Full Measure of Devotion - August 13, 2020