La liberté éclairant le monde

I went to New York City for the first time recently. It was a whirlwind trip that involved miles of walking and a longer list of things to see coming home than I had going. It was amazing! On the advice of a New Yorker, we went to Frauncis Tavern, the place where George Washington gave his farewell speech to his troops before heading home to Virginia, about a week after the British left New York City, effectually ending the Revolutionary War. He would soon become the first president of the new United States of America, but just then he was "only" a general, a military man through-and-through. The parting with his troops was an emotional one for all of them. They had just won a war and created a nation and it was truly the end of an era. I stood in the room on the third floor where the men had gathered...where George Washington himself had stood.

People call me an idealist and they are unarguably correct. I can't help it. And I'm realistic enough to know that Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, and the others weren't saints or gods or superheroes. But it disgusts, actually disgusts me to compare our politicians of today with our founding fathers. Washington never wanted to be president. He was a general, a military man through-and-through. And I thought of that when I read these lines from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: "perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who...have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well."

I inevitably think (and this is my proof that I am not a pure idealist) of this past election and the shameless, graceless way in which candidates from both parties "fought" for the presidency. Mud-slinging is too subtle a word for what went on, and has been going on for some time. This was downright meanness, lies, and deceit. Not one time in the entire race was I convinced that our current president wanted to win the presidency because he believed he would do great things for America, indeed because he believed in America at all. Rather he, and all the candidates, seemed to be running against the other candidates simply to win, simply to watch the other ones lose, like a "grown-up" version of a high school prom queen election. Who was the prettiest candidate; more importantly, who was the most successful at pulling the wool over the American people's eyes and making them believe that the poor semblance of humanity before them was competent enough to be president? Politicians no longer even remotely act as representatives of the people. Rather, they pose as strong, perseverant, capable leaders who will lead the people blindly around. And the worst thing about it, the thing that infuriates me the most, is that the people buy it! Apparently, at least 53% - and more probably closer to 80% - of Americans no longer even want a representative. They want a protector, an all-powerful presence who will ensure that their lives and livelihoods are safe and comfortable, no matter what the cost.

We didn’t have time to take the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty so, although seeing her from shore was at the top of my list, I didn’t expect much more than I have seen on innumerable postcards. We walked through Battery Park and, to my delight, came upon the harbor. But the sight of the Statue of Liberty left me in awe. I couldn’t turn away. I cried. I sat there in thirty degree weather and just stared. She is beautiful, and graceful, and even from that distance has a presence that I would never believe a copper statue could possibly have. And she defies the tumult and corruption and confusion that currently grips America, that I believe (call me an alarmist) currently threatens the basic principles upon which we were founded. She says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" And she still believes it.

These days I often think of something Vonnegut wrote in Cat’s Cradle about some character whose name I’ve forgotten: “Sometimes I wonder if he wasn’t born dead. I never met a man who was less interested in the living. Sometimes I think that’s the trouble with the world: too many people in high places who are stone cold dead.” Seriously, I wonder, in our political “leaders”, where intellect, rationale, and righteousness have disappeared to. I hope the Statue of Liberty, and a few Americans, can keep the faith.