Since the publishing of my
last column, I have had the opportunity to interact online and in person with many readers (both Democratic and Republican).
What I found was that there are many areas in which there is commonality: we have many of the same occupations, loyalties to sports teams, religious affiliations and, yes, a desire to not have our children murdered at school.
But it doesn’t take long (or that many drinks) for the differences to emerge and the name calling to begin. When I’m called a “libtard” to my face my first question is why? How is that defined? I have spent the last 20 years working with servicemembers, Veterans, and their families to overcome the invisible wounds of war including posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
Based on this work and my own experience, I have a strong sense of what it means to be patriotic, to pursue American ideals, and to seek to defend our nation and Constitution “against enemies foreign and domestic.”
As a former U.S. government employee, I had to go through an extensive background check that included a series of questions regarding my past and current activities and how they related to the best interests of the United States of America…this included no less than four questions specifically asking me if I planned to incite an insurrection or rebellion against my government. Shouldn’t elected officials at the highest levels of our government be held to the same standard at a minimum as us rank and file?
I had the privilege of attending a conference recently with servicemembers and one session featured Eddie Glaude, Jr, Professor of African American studies at Princeton University. I posed this to Dr. Glaude (paraphrasing): We sit in this room with servicemembers who are ultimately led by civilians in the White House and Congress. The men and women here are trained to uphold the values of integrity, service before self, excellence in all we do, and zero tolerance of cheaters and those who allow such behavior. What advice would you give these men and women when they see the elected officials who direct their duties and activities not upholding these same values?
Dr. Glaude’s response was this (paraphrasing): Character is repeatedly tested in these moments when there is a conflict between training and values and your orders. Knowing that there is no middle ground on slavery, there is no middle ground on January 6th (full video of exchange here).
That begs the questions: What are your values? How do you define yourselves? What labels, signs, and symbols do you adhere to? Do you, like Dr. Glaude have a “vexing relationship with the flag?” ...
