My name is Jonathan Penton, I am a poetry editor from Texas, and I love America. I am variably proud of and ashamed by this love. I am aware that both feelings are pointless. I also love oranges, strawberries, strawberry Cisco, swordfish, chili, metaphysical conceits, and a host of humans who would rather I not. These are simple facts which do not require the adornments of pride or shame.
When I love something, I attempt to define it. Like most behaviors designed to keep the human mind functioning, this one is intellectually dishonest. I will now proceed.
Since taking office in January, President Barack Hussein Obama has betrayed his promise to be more open about torture conducted by the U.S. Military1, failed to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay2, and shut activist groups such as The Campaign for Fresh Air and Clean Politics out of his alleged attempts to institute universal health care for Americans3. He continues to speak as though he believed that homosexuality damages marriage. He has pulled U.S. Troops out of Iraqi cities—on the schedule laid out by his predecessor. He has instituted a stimulus package filled with short-term thinking that bails out a host of incompetent and predatory banks, but is woefully inadequate to update America's educational systems. His actions have neither been populist nor leftist, and one must suspect that our nation retains its essential international character: a democratic republic buttressed by a ruthlessly imperialistic international agenda which most Americans choose to ignore.
He is intelligent and observant. He listens carefully when spoken to, and responds with subtlety. He is multicultural and a polyglot. He is black, and let me tell you something, if you don't find that amazing, you've never been to America. Arguments about his heritage are laughably disingenuous: I think we're all aware that throughout huge, populated tracts of American territory, that man would face a constant threat of lynching.
The disappointment I feel in some of Obama's actions do not detract from what he symbolizes. America is imperialist but Obama is not an emperor; he is a diplomat, our Diplomat-in-Chief. He is perfect for the job. An empire in decline relies on the good will and civilized participation with those empires on the rise. Since its nature will force it to commit crimes for the theoretical benefit of its citizenry, it needs to present itself in a way which allows nations to ignore its crimes and celebrate its symbols. Obama offers, indeed defines, symbols which allow such international interaction. His voice, his demeanor, his very face allows everyone to ignore the American flavor of inequality.
He is, in short, a Noble Lie. He thus represents America thoroughly and honestly. America is an entirely theoretical power, allegedly based not on tribe nor religion nor circumstance, but on ideals. The fact that Americans do not appear to share a single ideal is secondary: we share ideals as our ideal; we believe that beliefs, rather than silicon mined by slaves under the control of Congolese warlords, hold us together. We speak in and vote for abstractions. At parties, when we are unable to find common ground, we abstract our abstractions until we have words so meaningless as to be universally agreeable. On the Internet, we exaggerate and personalize our minor differences until we can turn slight differences in capitalist theory into struggles for the very soul of our nation. (Although we control some of the most beautiful, exotic, and varied terrain on earth, few would consider it, nor the cost-efficient and notoriously friendly service which oversees our National Parks, relevant to the soul of our nation.) Our theories sustain us, our arguments enrich us, and our divine inspiration comes from a group of thinkers we encourage the world to capitalize: the Founding Fathers.
We are not stupid; we know that we are liars. Even putting aside the racist and genderist intentions of the F.F., we know that not all men are created equal; some are brave, some are cowardly, some are smart and some... well, some of us really are stupid. Yet we look to those words for salvation, never having known anyone to be saved. We know we cannot make the Lie true, but we stand by it, we stand behind it, and we will defend it to the death, to the best of our imaginations. We have other lies; hundreds of them, and about these lies we argue, but we are sewn together by the belief that we are not telling lies, but Lies. We are, then, despite our anti-intellectual streak, a deeply poetic nation. We seek Beauty, and we call it Truth.
Does this make us unique? Of course not. You know what? Your country isn't unique either. Nyah.
It is in the spirit of the Noble Lie that the staff of Unlikely 2.0 proudly presents our 2009 Fourth of July Issue. It was compiled with the assistance and advisement of Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, poet, Mexican, and American, whose work was invaluable to its creation. K. R. Copeland designed the issue's logo. Assistant Editor Gabriel Ricard, Film Editor Belinda Subraman, and Art Editor C. Derick Varn all went beyond their normal duties to present what we believe is an intelligent and complex look at how America sees itself today. Navigation is on the right.
Thanks for reading,
—Jonathan
Notes:
1 MSNBC
2 Washington Post
3 CCUN.org
Jonathan Penton is the Editor-in-chief of Unlikely 2.0. Check out his bio page.
Comments (closed)
Valerie Lucas
2009-08-25 14:14:33
I love this sit and this article...it says what people refuse to see and I love it....
JPenton
2009-10-01 01:05:32
I paid my quarterly sales and franchise tax. Just now.
I hate it. Last quarter's was late. This quarter, I wanted it over with, and I got it over with, starting in the night of Sept. 30th. Two hours into the new quarter and it's done. And as a reward for my prompt payment, the State of Texas remunerated me with 34 cents.
Please kill me.
Chuck Taylor
2009-12-19 11:03:38
Good article Jonathan. One side of me knew that Obama was not even a liberal before I voted for him. I knew that he was a pragmatist in the sense he'd do what he perceived best for the country's interests on the short term and best to get himself re-elected. The other side of me clung to high hopes. He may be the best we can get, given the kind of country we are.