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I write this with 15 remaining before Bush's ultimatum to Saddam runs out of time.
Being a news junkie, I would be obsessing about current events even if I wasn't in DC. But being here certainly gives it an immediacy and a depth I'm not used to. Other than the WTO protests, news events are things that happen far, far away from me. They're bigger than life, but they're also slightly unreal.
I spent today musing on the nature of war. It's easy, here. So much history. A short subway ride and I was at Arlington National Cemetery. I felt out of place, like I do in a church. I knew the setting was supposed to be moving and inspiring, but it wasn't. I could only see the death. Patriotism has always been a null concept to me. I just don't speak the language. I was surrounded by those killed because of their patriotism. If they were trying to tell me something, all I heard was silence.
At the top of the first hill is Lee's house. He's an interesting character, historically. He was against slavery and didn't want the union to be split -- but he couldn't go to war against his home state of Virginia. So instead he lead the Confederate army. 'It is well that war is so terrible or else we would love it too much.' When Grant later captured Arlington, it was turned into a graveyard as a not too subtle message. The sometimes horrible side-effects of patriotism are built into the very core of the place.
On the next hill over is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I quite accidentally arrived exactly in time for the 5:00 changing of the guard. The weather was cold and blustery. The marble was worn where they marched, stained red by the taps in their shoes. The movements were stiff and mechanical and stylized -- more of the language I don't speak. When it was over the onlookers were told that the cemetery was now closed and that the Tomb was now a military restricted zone.
Instead of taking the subway back, I decided to walk. Arlington Memorial Bridge pointed directly toward the Lincoln and Vietnam memorials, which I had yet to see. Lincoln is a president I can respect and his memorial is appropriately large. He almost did the impossible, fixing a terrible flaw in the nation and keeping it from disintegrating in the process. Had only he lived he just might have completed the job.
There are moral wars, which is good to remember. I'm glad we fought the the Civil War and World War II. The Revolutionary War is harder to justify. We weren't particularly oppressed, but it gets grandfather in by default. The War of 1812 was defensive, except for the Canada bit. Gulf War I was pretty good. This list leaves 5 major wars and countless smaller police actions unaccounted for. Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, World War I, the Korean War and Vietnam.
The Vietnam Memorial is ironically close to Lincoln. Maybe it made more sense at the time, but I find it hard to understand how anyone could have ever supported the Vietnam War. Everything about it is depressingly stupid, starting from its fraudulent beginnings in the Gulf of Tonkin. Fifty seven thousand names carved in black marble. Well over a million Vietnamese names carved into nothing. Screaming kids from a school group being given flowers and sternly told to put them next to the memorial. Supporting the troops is a nice idea, I guess, but sometimes it's more important to be screaming about the criminal waste of life. Why isn't that seen as even *more* patriotic?
I didn't really learn anything new today. I found some new symbols for things I already felt. I'm relieved that I still don't understand patriotism and yet a bit sad that I almost completely lack what appears to be a basic human emotion.
The ultimatum has been expired now for over 90 minutes.
Being a news junkie, I would be obsessing about current events even if I wasn't in DC. But being here certainly gives it an immediacy and a depth I'm not used to. Other than the WTO protests, news events are things that happen far, far away from me. They're bigger than life, but they're also slightly unreal.
I spent today musing on the nature of war. It's easy, here. So much history. A short subway ride and I was at Arlington National Cemetery. I felt out of place, like I do in a church. I knew the setting was supposed to be moving and inspiring, but it wasn't. I could only see the death. Patriotism has always been a null concept to me. I just don't speak the language. I was surrounded by those killed because of their patriotism. If they were trying to tell me something, all I heard was silence.
At the top of the first hill is Lee's house. He's an interesting character, historically. He was against slavery and didn't want the union to be split -- but he couldn't go to war against his home state of Virginia. So instead he lead the Confederate army. 'It is well that war is so terrible or else we would love it too much.' When Grant later captured Arlington, it was turned into a graveyard as a not too subtle message. The sometimes horrible side-effects of patriotism are built into the very core of the place.
On the next hill over is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I quite accidentally arrived exactly in time for the 5:00 changing of the guard. The weather was cold and blustery. The marble was worn where they marched, stained red by the taps in their shoes. The movements were stiff and mechanical and stylized -- more of the language I don't speak. When it was over the onlookers were told that the cemetery was now closed and that the Tomb was now a military restricted zone.
Instead of taking the subway back, I decided to walk. Arlington Memorial Bridge pointed directly toward the Lincoln and Vietnam memorials, which I had yet to see. Lincoln is a president I can respect and his memorial is appropriately large. He almost did the impossible, fixing a terrible flaw in the nation and keeping it from disintegrating in the process. Had only he lived he just might have completed the job.
There are moral wars, which is good to remember. I'm glad we fought the the Civil War and World War II. The Revolutionary War is harder to justify. We weren't particularly oppressed, but it gets grandfather in by default. The War of 1812 was defensive, except for the Canada bit. Gulf War I was pretty good. This list leaves 5 major wars and countless smaller police actions unaccounted for. Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, World War I, the Korean War and Vietnam.
The Vietnam Memorial is ironically close to Lincoln. Maybe it made more sense at the time, but I find it hard to understand how anyone could have ever supported the Vietnam War. Everything about it is depressingly stupid, starting from its fraudulent beginnings in the Gulf of Tonkin. Fifty seven thousand names carved in black marble. Well over a million Vietnamese names carved into nothing. Screaming kids from a school group being given flowers and sternly told to put them next to the memorial. Supporting the troops is a nice idea, I guess, but sometimes it's more important to be screaming about the criminal waste of life. Why isn't that seen as even *more* patriotic?
I didn't really learn anything new today. I found some new symbols for things I already felt. I'm relieved that I still don't understand patriotism and yet a bit sad that I almost completely lack what appears to be a basic human emotion.
The ultimatum has been expired now for over 90 minutes.
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But it was the least goth cemetery I've ever seen. It was even less goth than those new cemeteries without any trees and only flat tombstones so they can mow the grass easily.
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