I remember traveling to Quebec in the 1960's. And thinking how arrogant were the French Separatists. They weren't Canadian. They were French.
It's been more than forty years, and I guess that the Separatist Movement (SM) still exists, kinda. The Liberal Party had traded on its special relationship with the SM to retain power, in the main, since 1968. And by resigning from its role as a Cultural Melting Pot, the State under Trudeau embraced a new line of Cultural Equivalence. From
Wikipedia, "This policy aimed to transform Canada into a country where English and
French-Canadians could live together in comfort, and could move to any part of the country without having to lose their language."
Of course the kicker is in the next line of this entry: "While this has not occurred..."
It was around that time that I was introduced to John Knowles "A Separate Peace". Name anyone you know that hasn't been forced to read that book. And as much as I personally hate Edith Wharton, I failed to see the point in reading the Knowles book. Oh, that's right. We need to rise above the call of the state to unity. We need to maunder about in our own petty feelings. It's all about the "authenticity", man.
From
Novelguide, " Phineas is the novel's greatest casualty. He becomes a metaphor for the peace that is lost when Gene is too afraid to identify the enemy within himself."
The Enemy Within Himself.
(Here's a list of books that echo that theme.*)
Along comes Speaker Pelosi. For her, Brutus, the problem lies not in our enemies, but in ourselves.
"..
that we are underlings."Brutus" and "Caesar": what should be in that "Caesar?
"Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
"Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
"Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
"Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with them,"Brutus" will start a spirit as soon as "Caesar."
"Now, in the names of all the gods at once,Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feedThat he is grown so great?
"Age, thou art shamed!
"Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods!
"When went there by an age since the great flood,But it was famed with more than with one man?
"When could they say, till now, that talk'd of Rome,That her wide walls encompass'd but one man?
"Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough,When there is in it but one only man.
"O, you and I have heard our fathers say There was a Brutus once that would have brook'd Th' eternal devil to keep his state in Rome, As easily as a king!
Compare and contrast Speaker Pelosi's Shakespearian fantasy with the words of
Senator Robert Bennett of Utahfrom the floor of the Senate, this morning:
“And I turn for my text in this matter to a source that is not thought of as being particularly friendly to Republicans. I’m talking about the Washington Post editorial page.
“I was a little stunned. Out in Utah, dealing with my constituents and getting reacquainted with some real people who have different kinds of priorities than those that we normally have here in Washington, to read about Speaker Pelosi’s venture into the Middle East. And I picked up, via the internet and e-mail, a copy of the editorial that ran in the Washington Post.
“I think it deserves some review.
“It’s entitled ‘Pratfall in Damascus’ and the subhead is ‘Nancy Pelosi’s Foolish Shuttle Diplomacy’
“The opening paragraph begins this way:
“‘House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered an excellent demonstration yesterday of why members of Congress should not attempt to supplant the Secretary of State when traveling abroad.’
“I’ve traveled abroad, Madam President, as have you. I went abroad when Bill Clinton was the President of the United States, and I traveled with Phil Gramm of Texas. I don’t think anybody’s ever accused Phil Gramm of Texas of being particularly fond of Bill Clinton. Every country we went to, where Senator Gramm was leading the delegation, the first place we went was to the embassy. And Senator Gramm said, over and over again, and to these ambassadors, every one of whom had been appointed by President Clinton, ‘We are here to help you. Mr. Ambassador, or Madam Ambassador, tell us what we can do in this country, where you are representing the United States, that can be of value to you. How can a congressional delegation of varying sizes, usually fairly large, be supportive of the work you are doing in this country?’
“And then when we met with leaders of the country, whether it would be the chief of government, or the chief of state, sometimes both, or lower level officials, we always had in mind what we could say and do to support the Clinton State Department’s position as represented by the Clinton ambassador.
“I have traveled with the Majority Leader. Senator Harry Reid. We’ve gone various places, in Europe, and in South America and in every instance Senator Reid went out of his way to make contact with the U.S. ambassador, appointed by President Bush, and to make sure that our delegation was properly briefed by that ambassador to make sure we didn’t do something stupid, out of our ignorance, while we were in that particular country.
“I contrast that, Madam President, behavior by Republicans traveling abroad, behavior by Democrats traveling abroad, with the kind of behavior we saw from Speaker Pelosi.
“I go back to the Washington Post editorial. I must read, in its entirety the final paragraph, because it lays it out far better than I can. The paragraph refers to a statement by Nancy Pelosi, ‘We came in friendship, hope and determined that the Road to Damascus is the Road to Peace.’ And then the editorial says, and I quote:
“‘Never mind that that statement is ludicrous. As any diplomat would know and could have told Mrs. Pelosi, Mr. Assad is a corrupt thug whose overriding priority at the moment is not peace with Israel, but heading off U.N. charges that he orchestrated the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister. The really striking development here is the attempt by a democratic congressional leader to substitute her own foreign policy for that of a sitting Republican president. Two weeks ago Ms. Pelosi rammed legislation through the House of Representatives that would strip Mr. Bush of his authority as Commander In Chief, to manage troop movements in Iraq. Now she’s attempting to introduce a new Middle East policy that directly conflicts with that of the President. We have found much to criticize in Mr. Bush’s military strategy and regional diplomacy, but Ms. Pelosi’s attempt to establish a shadow Presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish.’
“Close quote.
“It happened while we were on break, Madam President. And there may be some who hope that it just disappears in memory, in words of George Orwell, that it goes down the memory hole, and never gets called up again. I was going to talk entirely about the economy, but I think that this is something, now that we’re back in session, that we should take time, to talk about.”
*Book list to follow in your comments.
