Good For Iraq. Now, About America...

CNN and Dan Rather and the rest of Big Media are hailing the return to the Iraqis of their country. I'm very happy for the Iraqi people, attenuated though their sovereignty may be. It truly is a day of hope for those Iraqis that weren't killed during the invasion or the occupation.

I don't mean to rain on the parade, but when do we get our country back? You know, the country the whole world used to look up to.

The country that didn't kick your ass unless you threw the first punch.

The country whose patience and persistence kept the cold war cold, and kept its nukes holstered until those folks in Russia came to their senses.

The country that didn't treat the bill of rights like the tax code, looking for loopholes and exemptions.

The country that even under the shadow of nuclear threat kept its senses and refused to give in to fear and hatred.

The country that opposed totalitarianism and still found time to invent rock 'n roll, right the wrongs of a century of Jim Crow, plant the stars and stripes on the moon, keep the trust of its allies and dream of a Great Society.

The country that took pride in hosting the United Nations even though its members frequently confounded us.

The country that radiated such optimism, confidence and idealism that the citizens of our greatest enemy finally said "damn, they look like they're having a good time over there - screw The Wall, gimme a hit of that freedom stuff!"

The country whose faith in the justness of its cause bred a serene strength, not arrogance.

The country where torture was what the other guy did.

The country with an innate understanding that you don't install democracy like so much astroturf; you had to plant seeds, and that the seeds wouldn't grow in foreign soil until the weeds of hunger, fear and ignorance had been uprooted.

The country that wasn't ashamed to admit it had made a mistake in going to war, and that understood that being duly chastened was a good and healthy thing, not a sign of weakness or a "syndrome."

The country that wasn't content to avert its gaze from an Appalachia or racial discrimination, and understood that the measure of a society was its solicitude toward the poor and oppressed, not its low marginal tax rates.

The country where the media heroes were muckrakers, not blow-dried suckups to political whores.

The country that realized that being poor wasn't a character defect, because Grandma and Grandpa had been poor during the depression and, goddammit, there weren't any finer people.

The country that fought its wars with armies raised from every class, where the privileged enlisted or were drafted, and where the idea that wars should be fought primarily by Americans fleeing poverty or hopelessness or lack of opportunity at home would have been deemed, well, unamerican.

The country that didn't watch wars on television like voyeurs, but actually felt the clammy grip of war when Jimmy Smith down the street, the kid that used to cut our lawn, received his draft notice and the Smith's stayed at home and didn't come to the barbecue, their curtains drawn tight all week like shrouds.

Remember that country? When do we Americans get that country back? I don't want to be selfish, but couldn't we work on returning that country to ourselves before we unleash the Arsenal of Democracy on Syria or Iran?