Krugman: Beautifying America

[ProSense]

Beautifying America

Andy Rosenthal, our editorial page editor, notes that Mitt Romney likes to quote from “America the Beautiful”, and tells us something I for one didn’t know:

The lyrics were written in 1894 by the Massachusetts poet Katharine Lee Bates, an ardent feminist and lesbian who was deeply disillusioned by the greed and excess of the Gilded Age.

Her original third verse was an expression of that anger:

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/beautifying-america/

From the piece Krugman links to:

DES MOINES – It is jarring, in an age of irony and nuance, to hear Mitt Romney conclude his stump speeches with a riff on the hymn, “America the Beautiful.” At an early-morning rally today, a few hours before the Iowa caucuses begin, he discussed his love for the patriotic song — probably the most beloved in the canon – and recited several of the song’s verses, strongly suggesting that its vision of the country differed from President Obama’s.

Can he really be this corny? (And I mean that literally, since in Iowa he claims that the amber waves of grain include corn. Note to Mitt: corn is green, and it’s not even clear it’s a grain.) Ronald Reagan was the master manipulator of patriotic symbols, but was more subtle in his use of imagery, and tended to resist sledgehammer appeals to sentimentality.

http://loyalopposition.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/mitt-romney-and-america-the-beautiful-when-reach-exceeds-grasp/?ref=opinion

[Peace Patriot]

1. Bless you, Paul Krugman, for this wonderful bit of information!

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

----------------

And --for those who don't know--the "Pledge of Allegiance" was written by a socialist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance

And, yes, the original did NOT have the words "under God" in it. That was added in 1954, amidst some terrible events, including the U.S. destruction of Iran's democracy and its refusal to permit UN-sponsored elections in Vietnam (because Ho Chi Minh would have won). "Under God" means the 'right' to impose fascist dictatorships on others and war in the interest of war profiteers and the rich and powerful. Some God.

Eisenhower, president during that era, got sick of it all, however, in the end--and, in his last speech in office, warned us of the threat of the "military-industrial complex" to our democracy! I think that wisdom like that, coming from unexpected sources, is, in a sense, God--or the "God particle" at work in the human brain, trying to elevate individuals into their best and wisest selves. God is an effort--a rising up to a higher plane where we see beyond our own individual interests to the larger picture of the human endeavor. God is that intellectual courage within us that sometimes transcends this mortal life. It is something we seek. It is something we could become. We are not "under" it. We are OF it. It is our collective wish--often distorted and used to ill purpose but nevertheless, for most of us, it is our abiding desire to be better, wiser, more generous people. As a banner of war, it is an abomination. As a silent prayer to improve our own being in the world and that of others, it is sacred. Spoken or sung in this way--"One nation, under God"--it is a bullying and braggart word. God. Thought of quietly, in reflection, it is our best selves, deep within, trying to rise up.

[snagglepuss]

2. This should be shouted from the rooftops. I'm stunned that this is the first I've ever heard of

this. Kudos to Krugman for bringing this to peoples' attention.

[JHB]

5. Just to keep it going...

...every conservative caricature of liberals/the left in one political cartoon...from 1860, when the Republicans were the far left party.



Description: Abraham Lincoln's supporters are portrayed as radicals and eccentrics of various stripes. The satire is loosely based on an anti-Fremont cartoon from the previous presidential race, "The Great Republican Reform Party" (no. 1856-22), also issued by Nathaniel Currier. Here Lincoln, sitting astride a wooden rail borne by Horace Greeley, leads his followers toward a lunatic asylum. Greeley instructs him, "Hold on to me Abe, and we'll go in here by the unanimous consent of the people." Lincoln exhorts his followers, "Now my friends I'm almost in, and the millennium is going to begin, so ask what you will and it shall be granted." At the head of the group is a bearded man, arm-in-arm with a woman and a Mormon. He claims to "represent the free love element, and expect to have free license to carry out its principles." The woman looks at Lincoln, saying "Oh! what a beautiful man he is, I feel a passionate attraction' every time I see his lovely face." The Mormon adds, "I want religion abolished and the book of Mormon made the standard of morality." They are followed by a dandified free black, who announces, "De white man hab no rights dat cullud pussons am bound to spect' I want dat understood." Behind him an aging suffragette says, "I want womans rights enforced, and man reduced in subjection to her authority." Next a ragged socialist or Fourierist, holding a liquor bottle, asserts, "I want everybody to have a share of everybody elses property." At the end of the group are three hooligans, one demanding "a hotel established by government, where people that aint inclined to work, can board free of expense, and be found in rum and tobacco." The second, a thief, wants "the right to examine every other citizen's pockets without interruption by Policemen." The last, an Irish street tough, says, "I want all the stations houses burned up, and the M.P.s killed, so that the bohoys can run with the machine and have a muss when they please."

[ProSense]

3. Yup, it's a gem. Thanks for the info.

Is there an ad in there somewhere?

That would certainly piss off the tea baggers.

[GoCubsGo]

4. I always thought that song would make a much better national anthem than the current one.

Now I see why it never will be.

[Silver Swan]

6. When one is speaking of sweet corn

which is harvested green, then I can see how the corn plant could be considered green. Moreover, even the amber waves of wheat, oats, and barley start off green.

Non-sweet corn, which is the bulk of the crop, is harvested when the stalks have turned color--a beige color that is not too far from the amber of oats.

Now whether sturdy corn plants "wave" might be worth arguing about.

[ProSense]

7. Interesting.

Would love to see an ad showing Mitt's affinity for a song written by a socialist. The joy!