Guest Articles

Who Are We In America Today by Julie Plancarte

I am an American. This is where I was born, and this country is the place that I will have my citizenship. I accept this as part of who I am.

My ancestors came from Germany and England. My fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes are all a result of where my family started so long ago. Still, I do not look to England and Germany to create an identity for myself. I do not long to take a "journey" to find out who I am. The land I stand on is where I owe my allegiance.

I confess I couldn't watch much of the inauguration of Barrack Obama. The whole thing was a big turn off for me. The gushing, the exploitation of Lincoln and other historical figures, the focus on race, disgusted me.

I wish President Obama well, I suppose. But I also am very pragmatic. After a slick campaign with massive amounts of money poured into it, he won. Great. I wouldn't call it historic. He made a bunch of vague promises, told people what they wanted to hear, changed his position as often as Carrie Bradshaw changes her shoes, and didn't really lay out a concrete game plan for how he was going to change the mess the country is currently in.

I suppose Obama represents to me the new America. The triumph of the individual over the needs of the group, the catering to various interest groups versus addressing our society as a whole. We are not really a united nation anymore. We are no longer American. We are something else. We are groups that exclude and discriminate others. We are gay, or African American, or women, or Latino, or Asian, or Native American. And each group dismisses those on the outside.

I find it difficult to believe that you can govern and run a government when you are trying to appeal to so many groups. After a while, you lose your character. You are merely a mirror that reflects what you're shown at the time or who you're with that day. There is no indication of who you are.

Obama has become a sort of reflection of whatever group he is with. When he is with a group of African Americans, he talks and acts a certain way. When he is with whites, he acts another way. He alters his appearance across the lines of race, social class, and educational divides. I don't get a sense of him as a man. He is an empty vessel.

I know I am an American, but I wonder if Mr. Obama and all of his friends know who they are. If you polish yourself so no one can get a grasp on the core of who you are, if you become a sound byte, how can you find yourself? There have to be absolutes.

We are a real contradiction as a country. Only here do we refuse to unite under one name. We have politicized our history. We have citizens who don't study or understand how our government works. We have mocked certain groups and exalted others, and torn down those who didn't pass through the fire of political correctness. In other countries, there is a sense of national identity. But I'm afraid if we don't do something different, we are going to loose that here in the United States. It is too easy to criticize, to cater to individuals rather than do what is good for society as a whole. We dwell on portions of history that cast the government in a bad light, but refuse to look at the overall picture which is good.

I suppose if I wanted to appease those that "seem" far more advanced than myself, I would dwell on my gender. I would pick apart history and focus on how my group has been oppressed. I would make a "journey of discovery" to my "home nation" to find myself. I would complain about what a horrible country I live in and how it has the worst history of any nation in the world. Because no nation has treated their people worse. Right?

I suppose Obama is what we asked for at this time. A politically correct politician who will bow to the collective will of special interest groups and tell us whatever we want to hear. All I see in the future is blame assigned to others, more money doled out to those who don't deserve it, and people looking to receive something for nothing. There is lip service paid to the welfare of our posterity, but for the most part, it's a sham. We live in the present, and we care about ourselves. Its all about us.

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Copyright  2008     Leland Pulley