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By
Bruce Bressack
02/11/2003
Boomers
Of all the convenient and divisive words he could have used, he said “Peacenik”. And the images and memories of a country divided flooded back.
It was a different time, that’s for sure. Johnson, and then Nixon, was in office. The "Silent Majority" [the phrase coined by some high-priced advertising firm and trumpeted mercilessly by VP Spiro Agnew] were pitted against the “Vocal Minority” (those against the continuation of an unjust War, or so they believed).
Back then, the modus operandi was either "divide and conquer", or at the very least, "divide and confuse".
As a teenager, faced with conscripted service (a.k.a., the Draft), it was certainly a confusing time. I even drove to D.C. to protest the War (the year that John Denver sang to a sea-of-believers from the steps of the Capital Building).
Honestly, it was more “party than protest”, but we naively thought we could make a difference. We may have been young (and easily “manipulated”), but we never felt unpatriotic or un-American, even though our leaders defined us in those terms.
Of course, now the radio-guy was talking about the nervy, unpatriotic, and clueless masses that weren’t supportive of the Bush Administration’s position on Iraq. How could they be so ignorant and so wrong?
Even one of his callers said, “If they don’t love this country, they can leave it”.
I thought this type of thinking was long gone, but “love it or leave it” raised its "ugly" head again. I say, “America, Love It and Love It”, which leads me to my next point.
As an adult, with grown children (and humbled and grateful for the vast opportunities that this country has given me), I’d like to believe that we could still “Give Peace A Chance”.
But, and this is a BIG BUT, it’s my understanding that Saddam (and bin Laden) ain’t John Lennon fans! These guys probably don’t even know who AC/DC, The Beach Boys, or Eminem are.
Hard to believe, right, but they wouldn't know Peace (or good rap) if it was crammed down their throats by a dove.
As I write this article, the country is on code orange, high alert. We’ve been attacked, and we will likely be attacked again.
I don’t care what the terrorists’ motivation is, and that’s the real shame. Whatever their just cause is, or was, is lost on this ex-Peacenik.
Are you listening? We don’t care. Just stop it! You cannot win. We are the inventors of "Weapons of Mass Destruction", and our stockpiles would make you weep with envy.
And, if you keep stoking the fires you will be fired upon, unless, of course, you’re willing to “Give Peace A Chance”.
I doubt it. You’d rather be a dead martyr, right? Trust me, my government will accommodate you.
Now, back to the higher road.......
Can we all just agree that, whatever happens, we won’t let the "Un-Great Divide" of our country happen again.
Promise me you won’t be quiet when they start labeling you the Silent (or Huge, or Vast) Majority - just tell ‘em NO, you’re just an American.
And when you hear someone being called a Peacenik, just tell ‘em NO, they’re just an American......
Bruce Bressack is a singer-songwriter, producer and freelance writer currently living in New England. He’s a 52 year old baby-boomer, ex-Yuppie, ex-New Yorker, guitar-slingin’, piano-slappin’, finally ‘retired’, television tube lover...
Bruce Bressack can be reached at bbressack@hippopress.com