Let's get something straight, shall we?
February 09, 2003 ~ 3:57 p.m.
In 1915, Teddy Roosevelt addressed the nation, proclaiming the following:
�... There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans � But a hyphenated American is not an American at all. This is just as true of the man who puts "native" before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance. But if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then no matter where he was born, he is just as good an American as any one else.�
Not his entire address obviously, but this part of the speech cuts straight to the chase.
This bears thinking about when I start catching flak, as I have already begun to, from �German-Americans� incensed at my last entry. And I am going to wonder where their hearts, souls and allegiances truly lie.
I was informed that we left Germany war-torn at the end of World War I�and, pray tell me, which country started that war? My sympathies for the Germany of 1918 are very limited at best. Come a decade later, the Germans still should have seen evil for what it truly was in their beloved Fuhrer, and say, �this dude is carrying a collective thirst for vengeance way too far.� But did they? Answer that one please, people.
And just what did America do in the aftermath of World War II? Completely rebuild their cities, jump start their economy and ensure a healthy nation for a nation that has always been, at best, paranoid. Our thanks for this fifty years later?
�No way are we going to assist or help you in your petty little war for oil, you despicable little Yankees, you and your cowboy leader may go to hell.� So sayeth Herr Schroeder. But if it�s only this little man�s position on America, then tell me why his stance is so endearingly popular in Germany? Why has he hit such a chord among his Teutonic populace?
Let me share something with you. I bear a more than fair amount of Irish blood. I could easily go around calling myself an �Irish-American� if I so wanted. I don�t. I�m proud of it, certainly; but the impact this blood and heritage has on my life is nil. If I cut my finger and the blood drips on the floor, that is my American blood being shed. That�s how I see it.
One day several years ago, I was walking through the Charlestown Navy Yard (in Boston), and happened upon some graffiti sprayed across a shed. It read �IRA FOREVER!� My stomach turned and I saw red. I was fuming. My admiration for the community of South Boston was severely tested from that day on at the thought of �Irish-Americans,� whose Irish-ness obviously means a great deal more to them than their American-ness, contributing $10 or more at watering holes with names like �Paddy�s� for �the cause.� Oh, what everlasting bullshit. America should never have backed the IRA�s dirty little terror campaign for years and years, but thanks to certain large numbers Irish-Americans, we indirectly but significantly did. (Which is why columnist Richard Littlejohn of The Sun was so spot on to ask, �What exactly is the difference between New York and Omagh, Mr. Blair?�)
Again, I ask, if you are going to drop me from your profiles, do it now. You had your chance before. But make no mistake about it: I call the shots as I see them. I give you the straight dope, as you may or may not like it. And if you don�t like it, then there�s the door�exit stage right, folks. I don�t welcome the abandonment, but at least I�ve got the guts to call the shots exactly how I see them and I don�t sugarcoat a damn thing.
Also, may I ask: Exactly when did taking a certain nation to task become akin to racism? Two readers have accused me of that very thing. May last entry did NOT engender racism; it just simply expanded upon a nationalistic grudge that I, and all Americans regardless of their beloved heritages, cannot be blamed for feeling at this moment in history. Yet, I�m a racist. Just when the hell did white people suddenly get seen to be victims of racism themselves? I must have slept through that sea-change of opinion. I thought that such a thing was not possible. You Lefties never fail to surprise me, you know that?
I never claimed to be an easy read on the soul at all times. I come from the School of Hard Knocks and it reflects itself in my work. You have now officially been warned. For those of you who still have the stomach and the tolerance enough to stick with me, I thank you in advance.
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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