You know what's cool about America?

I'm watching CNN Pipeline right now, and two of the feeds are showing Gerald Ford's body, draped with an American flag, in the Capitol Rotunda. It's 1:45 AM on the East Coast right now, and only a few lingering folks are there, in the center room of one of America's most protected and revered buildings. But nonetheless, five guys in full dress uniform are standing there are attention, watching over the coffin in the nearly empty room, making sure nothing disturbs the rest of Mr. Ford.

And as I was watching, I saw one guy -- from his position, I'd guess he's in charge of the honor guard -- shift position just a little. He shifted his weight from one foot to another, that's about it. And as if on cue, the other four guys did the exact same thing.

That's discipline. That's dedication.

That kinda makes me wonder who these five guys are, these guys whose role in tonight's proceedings will almost certainly turn out to have been ceremonial, but who I'm sure would have no problem in taking action against anyone who tried to disturb the final rest of the 38th man to lead this country.

Two or three decades from now, when the Chimp is dead, I'm sure he'll receive the same attention at his state funeral, and God knows he doesn't deserve it. But ultimately, I'd rather have ten Chimps receive an undeserved honor guard than one flawed but honest man who took the toughest job in the world go without.

Ford almost certainly didn't know these five guys, and they didn't know him. But what each of these men served was an ideal. Ford didn't serve it that well, I think, but he probably knew the magnitude of his job and I think he did the best he could considering his character limitations. He believed in America. As for these five guys . . . well, if you have CNN Pipeline or any other feed into the Rotunda right now, just look at them. Try to catch one of them off guard. You could tell them to stand there forever in service of the United States, and they would absofuckinglutely well do it. They believe more than most of us ever will.

That's what's cool about America. That we have guys like that guarding a coffin at night.

IIRC, some of the ceremonial troops have been called up.

There are no "ceremonial" show troops.

Just to keep it straight... :-)

Peace.

Not to say that they weren't regular troops, just specialists within the services.

The 3rd United States Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard," are active in most ceremonial memorial affairs in D.C.

http://www.army.mil/oldguard/index2.htm

There was just a change of guard, and it's six guys, not five.

And everyone moved very slowly and very quietly . . . as though not to disturb the slumber of a giant.

the most juvenile, myopic post EVER.

and that much more upset aout what the Chimp has done to our beautiful country. :cry:

Our foreign policy is pretty fucked up, but we are the world's only superpower, and as a rule, superpowers usually do fucked up things to other nations. And Europe does have more respect for socialism, but there also seems to be more animosity between Muslim immigrants and natives- at least in France: riots, etc., and some other country- Denmark?- outlawed burkas. And America's a big piece of a continent where people have been able to live in relative peace for a pretty long time: no air raids, invasions, tanks in the streets. There is something to be said for that.

and about the French riots : they were caused by discrimination exactly the same way that Black Americans rioted once upon a time. But the results of these riots is that yesterday (the last day) the same people queued to register to vote and the increase of voter registration was 90% in those districts. Some wore blue, white and red tee-shirts in the lines. That's far far from the still organised voter suppression in the US specially in the black districts.

And Denmark didn't forbid burkas, Holland has a proposal, even the UK. The reason isn't religion but WOMEN RIGHTS.

America is not "bad". It's just bigger. But it would be far better if the size implied a qualitative difference regarding values. Sadly it doesn't.

able to guard a presidential coffin at night ? and shift weight ? and to be disciplined ? the magnitude of US egocentrism amazes me, specially when it comes from people to the left.

Wake up, there is a world out there...

Who is guarding the coffins of the GIS that recently died in Iraq ? Do you see them on TV ?

and if you give someday a state funeral to the Chimp, there is DEFINITIVELY something wrong with the US. Besides Ford pardoned Nixon and is partially responsible for the genocide on East Timor. Is that what you call "flaws" ?

You know what most pisses off non-Americans ? American exceptionalism. Well I have news for you : you are far from being exceptional. Except if you consider that a bigger military tothe expense of your people's welfare for some reason gives you a set of "values" that are universal. The problem is that the US doesn't defend those "values" very well, as an understatement.

Happy New Year, may your troops come home

President leave office without the military rising up to defend him as he left. When Ford was appointed to take Agnew's place there was no threats, no dire warnings of the country collapsing and when he took over for Nixon we had no riots, no issues with our military trying to stop him, no one said he had no right to take over.

Nixon resigned, Ford took over and that was that.

How many other countries can you say that has happened?

And maybe YOU do not think America is so great but I certainly think that this country that has been the longest functioning democracy which has gong through six major wars (including two that tore the country apart-Civil and Vietnam), dozens of bland or flat out bad Presidents, three major changes to the economy, the change from agricultral to city-life, and multiple social changes to the way we view women, blacks and other "minorities" without our democracy being destroyed or having a dictator take over is the best damn country ever.

We are nowhere near perfect but yes we are exceptional.

you would be exceptional if you defended the universal values from the Enlightment period and applied them. But you don't.

And I don't know where you get that with the military and the President. There are plenty of countries where Presidents or Prime Ministers are destituted without triggering a coup. At least if you look at the last 100 years of European democracies, Canada, Australia etc...

America has been a mostly functioning democracy during a long period of time because it had weak neighbours (except 1812 when Canada reminded the new democracy that the time of jingoism hadn't come yet)

"our democracy being destroyed or having a dictator take over is the best damn country ever"

how do you consider the recent situation then ? You have a President that destroyed your civil liberties, legalized torture, started an illegal war for profit and probably is about to start a second one, all this because 2/3 of your "enlighted" population is more interested in shopping at Walmart and filling obscene polluting gaz guzzling monsters with cheap oil than holding him accountable.

what an achievement for "the best damn country ever"

but if you look long term at our history-we have had a damn fine country and when one President overreaches he gets smacked down.

You might not like the US but we have had a long running democracy that has weathered massive changes that could have easily destroyed the country as a whole however we are still functioning and still doing exactly what we need to do to fix the problems that have come up under the current President.

You happen to be thinking short term about Bush. He has done harm and will get his punishment but if you noticed, Bush lost the midterms-America puts up with shit only so long and then we make changes.

and when our presidents overreach - which is just about every president we've ever had - they don't get smacked down.

We're a country built on genocide, on imperialism, on human rights abuses, and on destroying the environment not only in our own country but world wide. What we have, we got by exploiting others and ravaging countries and people who did nothing to us except exist and have natural resources that we wanted, resources which we decided we were - by manifest destiny - entitled to have, simply because as white people we felt we were entitled to everything we wanted.

There's not much point in sugar coating that, not if we intend to face it head-on and try to undo some pathetic portion of the damage we've caused.

That 6 men are standing around a dead man in a coffin means nothing.

That they are standing there during a time in our history when we're dropping phosphorus on civilians in Falluja, and depleted uranium across entire landscapes is not a thing of honor; it's a thing of shame.

Except for all the others.

more people need to read Howard Zinn's "A Peoples History of the US". Perhaps they will see the light about this "great country".

I love how people gloss over the tens of thousands of workers of America who have been beaten, killed, and imprisoned by the government over the last century and a half for daring to fight for better working conditions and living conditions. Apparently, they omit the inconvenient truths.

All governments, with respect to the people are failures. The only question is to what degree. There is no institution on earth calling itself a democracy that could claim its hands are free from the blood of innocents. The history of the US is a history of bloodshed. The very establishment of the nation was founded on the genocide of Native Americans.

The US as a great country is only to be considered great as far as economic and military power goes. Everything else is just glossing over the cold hard facts of reality of all nation-states. You have to realize the fundamental truth that all governments are institutions of raw force, and history shows they are more often than not tools of oppression of the masses.

Refreshingly honest as always.

Governments are made up of people, and people are as grand as they are flawed.

:sarcasm:

but at least we don't pretend today we did

how many other countries have had an elected pres leave office without the military rising up to defend him? Um, lots.

When Ford pardoned that criminal Nixon, he set a dangerous precedent for which the planet is paying dearly.

then I can count since the end of WWII and there have been no military takeover or riots to speak of. The United States is not the only free nation in the world, you know!

After the coup that was the Kennedy assasination (something I mention because Nixon himself was probably at least aware of the plot). We're too complacent. For a democracy, we're treated an awful lot like cattle by our representatives.

Sorry but I live in Harry Mitchell's district and after having had that boob known as JD Hayworth as my Rep, I cannot help but feel a lot more hope for the next two years.

I love my country, I know it has done wrong in the past but also much good.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

The author was merely reflecting on how pessimistic some of us have become the past years. We must remember that America still has old potential locked up somewhere in its ribcage. Americans have been faced with internal and external challenges before and have overcome them with drastic success. Despite our many faults, we can face even these times if we remain determined.

And as much as I don't like President Bush, I think as long as our Constitution is still regarded as our country's shield, all presidents deserve to be burried with honors.

and the answer I got from the OP confirmed my suspicions about the thinking behind the original post...

it's not determination you need. It's reassessment of your values and standards. If the US system (including Constitution) and set of values was "foolproof", you wouldn't have a fool in charge.

It wouldn't be a big problem if the US was the size of Luxembourg. The problem is that they are sitting on the biggests nuclear arsenal in the world and have the biggest military projection capacity. Thus endangering the whole planet.

Latest surveys made in Europe shows that Europeans on the whole rank only Ahmanidjehad and Kim il Jung somewhat lower than Bush. Just to give you an idea.

So be determined in REALLY changing things. But it will not probably happen before the US is really near collapse, or collapses. That's the historical normal way. Sadly.

I think what's not understood is that the mainstream US political sphere (even the centrist Democrat) is politically equivalent with the European extreme right. Take Hillary for example : the only person that could defend her standpoints about death penalty, immigration, economical issues (including "welfare"), patriot act, war in Iraq, separation of church and state, gun control and environment in France would be Le Pen.

I would so much love to be wrong.

And we have-Election 2006 was a watershed...I can only hope that people start realising they do have the power to effect change.

what the OP meant. Welcome to DU. You will soon find the most innocent and/or well meant posts/comments can turn into a "family brawl".

Jenn

It's as if our educational system decided long ago, that nothing much past the "war between the states" really matters much.

we get the "washington chopped down the cherry tree" drivel and the "Lincoln walked miles to return a penny" crappola. and "how the US won WWII with eyes closed and both hands tied behind its back"..

Most kids are taught propaganda, and it's not surprising that they grow up to become people who don;t know much about the rest of the world...nor do they care.

As less and less kids get a chance to go to college, there will only be fewer and fewer thinkers in the US.. Good luck to us all :(

While I admire discipline as a trait in general, I don't think part of what is "cool" about America is that we have exceptional displays of pomp and circumstance for the ruling class, and can't manage to bury someone's poor black mother for days on end when they die in a wheelchair in a superdome.

Discipline is an individual trait, and not one that is uniquely "American."

Countries, on the other hand, have customs, and I find this custom to be infuriating. Elected officials are supposed to be the goddamned servants of the rest of us, not privileged nobility.

I don't want to see 6 people on the public payroll standing perfectly still "to honor" a person who is dead, while doing jackshit for the people who are alive and struggling. Their asses should be in New Orleans rebuilding homes or should be doing something for people who are alive and in need of services. That's not a critique of the guards themselves, it's a critique of the system.

about the ritual - even if I agree that your standpoints are very well motivated and that in a perfect world it ought to be your way. Habits are difficult to change, that's all.

But making the ceremonial "exceptional" and a symbol of the difference between the US "values" and and the rest of the world is not only preposterous but insulting to others.

It doesn't imply it's exclusive. It's like saying "You know what's cool about the US? We've got nice weather." That doesn't imply that everyplace else is cloudy all the time, it just means it's sunny in the US.

Happy New Year:D

The children just as beautiful. The waters just as calm. The land just as beloved.

I think that many who read your post won't get what you mean by "American exceptionalism" because the consciousness of this nation is all about being exceptional. It is all about being first, best, most powerful. Being #2 in anything is not possible. (Which explains why we fall so very low in rankings in health, education... and can deny we have any problems.)

I had lunch with a former Chancellor of my University not long ago. When I mentioned that the numbers of international students heading to graduate programs in Asia and Europe were rising and soon would outnumber those who chose the US she nearly lunged across the table at me. DIDN'T I KNOW THAT AMERICA LEADS THE WORLD IN EDUCATION?

Insight into American psyche: Tomorrow Belongs To Us!

from Gore Vidal's latest memoir, "Point to Point Navigation":


:wow:

The great thing about a reasonably-trained soldier is they'll do what you tell them to do, unquestioningly. And do it well. Believe me the standing at attention almost completely motionless for hours is not such a hard trick. It's a killer without practice, but then again you can break a man who isn't used to it just by having him hold a pencil straight out from his body. 15 minutes of that and most would be hurting. 20-30 is even worse. Try it just for fun, you'll be surprised.

  But these things are nothing...they look noble...but they are nothing, they are tricks compared the discipline of a soldier driving a humvee down a road when he knows there's a 40% chance that he'll detonate an IED or a fat quiver of other things that our soldiers do in Iraq every day and sometimes die doing, and do much less visibly (to us).

  No heat, I'm just sayin'

  Sen. Robert Byrd was giving a speech about our armed forces and while there were already at least 1,000 dead it was still a while back. Anyway he went on and on, talking about how terrible it was to squander our real National Treasure- the volunteers in our armed forces who will do just about anything, anywhere, that we bid them to and, if necessary, die trying. He's right. I'll never forgive Bush, most of all, for putting our children into harm's way for...nothing. Not a goddamned thing.

  Bush is a fucking scumbag. He's an arrogant prince learning The Army Game as he goes and real kids are being put into the ground because of his inexperience and hubris.

PB

I was not expecting what I wrote to be put out someplace quite so public - that was done behind my back, but anyway it feels relevant suddenly.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stan-goff/containment-and-diplomacy_b_35509.html

Again, it's not a critique of the guards themselves, but rather of what we choose to glorify in this country.

I am revving up to teach Introductory Psychology - the semester with developmental and social psychology. I spend a lot of time talking about "individualist" vs. "collectivistic" cultures - you've added a nice new story for me to tell.

:hi:

hundreds of thousands of people are dying and this is what makes you proud. i don't understand. our young people are dying in a 'war' for a power that works against us, yet their caskets cannot even be shown in our media. but a 93 year old ex-pres dies and it's on all channels all the time. his life was not worth more than any one of ours.

It's good they could get it together for Ford's funeral, but that kind of ceremony will be one of the last things to fall apart. Once America can't even get that together, you'll know we're really in a barbaric state. But overall, just look at the behavior of soldiers in Iraq, or the general ignorance and lack of dicipline among the populace, raised on too much TV and not enough schoolwork.

and the Spartans centuries prior to that. The British have guarded Buckingham Palace in similar fashion longer than we have had a country.

Class worship serves only the ruling class.

Screw jingoism
Screw Jerry The Pardoner
Screw pseudo-aristocracy ceremonies