[vsp]

I will preface this by saying that the WTC/Pentagon disasters did not personally touch me in any way. I don't know anyone who was there, none of my relatives or friends are anywhere near NYC or DC, and I might be responding a little bit differently if they had been.

Having said that, there is one thing that is bugging me about the current state of the nation, and that's the inevitable rush of symbolism.

I'm picturing in my mind many thousands of people going out and purchasing flags, planting them on their homes and cars, proudly displaying their loyalty to something they probably didn't even think about a month before.

I'm picturing a gathering of tens of thousands, all wearing the same colors, chanting various statements of support, united in their hatred of those who oppose their side and ready to beat the hell out of anyone who disagrees with them.

What I just described was not the current rush on stores to buy American flags or anything with the American flag on it -- rather, it's the behavior of Sixers and Eagles fans in our city. But, odd as it may sound, there is a parallel to be drawn between them.

I've watched innumerable reports from hardware stores, T-shirt shops, etc., where anything that's red, white and blue is vanishing off the shelf in an instant. I've watched people calling for national "Wear Red, White And Blue Days," as if it'll make it all better. I've watched people who didn't give a rat's ass about the flag two weeks ago draping themselves in it now, talking about American pride and American patriotism and how great it is to be an American. And then I think about the way the city paints itself green sixteen times a year, more in a playoff year, and the connection hits home a little too well.

It's not that it _isn't_ great to be an American. I live here, I always have and I always will, and despite the excesses of our government and our citizens at times, I feel it's probably the best place in the world for people to live. This country is my home. But I don't get all revved up about it, because I view most patriotism as wasted effort. My country is a big chunk of earth surrounded by natural and artificially-designated borders, not a mystical land that blesses all those who walk upon it with goodness and purity and righteousness. I root for America in the Olympics, because that's when flags are a convenient way to divide teams and keep score in unimportant sporting events, but that's about as choked up as I get about the concept.

People are now spending a LOT of money on red-white-and-blue fervor. Does this do anything constructive? Does this send a practical message to Osama Bin Laden, who'll recoil in fear at the tri-colored show of unity? Could that money be put to much better use if it was sent directly to the American Red Cross, the victims' family support groups, the rescue workers, or similar causes? Is there something wrong -- or unpatriotic -- or sinister about those who aren't buying flags as fast as they can make them, or wearing red-white-and-blue ribbons wherever they go?

You're not buying support for our dead, our cops and firemen and rescue workers, our President or our soon-to-be-very-busy armed forces. You're buying a symbol, and you're buying it because everyone else is, too. Well, you can be just as united in intention and spirit without wearing the official uniform and buying team-logo goods from all the souvenir shops, and you can do a lot of other things with your time, money and effort that are a bit more productive.

Likewise, the Arabs among us are walking targets, just as much as the poor saps who wear blue-and-silver to Eagles/Cowboys games. No 7-Eleven, diner, Subway or mosque is safe today, nor will it be for many years to come -- even if many of those who are getting stomped are from countries that support ours, are proud American immigrants, and/or are just as united in their hatred of what's gone down. Never mind, they don't look right -- WHAM, there go your windows, WHACK, there go your teeth, BOOM, go back to your country, Arab scum. Even if this IS your country now... or was.

We have people ready to frame this as a new Crusades, a religious war, ready to drive the Muslims into the sea. (And, I'll grant, many of them are ready to do the same to us.) I read Ann Coulter ranting that "We need to invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." I watch Jerry Falwell foam at the mouth about how gays, feminists and the ACLU share the blame for this tragedy, because they've been "mocking God" and this is somehow the divine consequences. I listen to angry people on the radio calling for nukes, calling for immediate air strikes, calling for bombs to wipe away the faces of those who cheered the explosion on TV. And, somewhere in the pit of my stomach, an ulcer forms, because this is _reinforcing_ the things they hate about us and helped cause this mess in the first place.

The average Muslim -- or the average Afghani -- could care less about America or its many religions, and certainly wouldn't want any of this to have happened. (Half of them probably don't even know where New York is.) Just like the average American (Christian, Jew, atheist or otherwise) is perfectly happy with a multicultural and multi-religion world, and feels there's plenty of room for everyone. There are extremists on both sides, and raw emotion is giving America's extremists the floor right now, with many rallying behind them. And I wince, even while I comprehend the pain and the anger and the frustration driving that emotion.

Yet too many people want Afghanistan bombed to the Stone Age right now, with death tolls higher than what we have suffered, to "send a message" to terrorists worldwide. News flash -- terrorists, as a general rule, aren't afraid to die. Terrorists capable of suicide bombings and flying planes into buildings certainly aren't afraid of death. The people who just happen to live in the country that harbors those people -- THEY'RE afraid to die. And they should be, as many of them will, I fear. I know I'll probably cheer as much as anyone else when Kabul starts exploding, just for the sheer vengeance factor... but I know that many around the world will watch that on TV and act just like Americans did when they saw Palestinians celebrating the WTC in the streets, and especially when average citizens get caught in the crossfire. Their hearts will be hardened even more, their devotion to their cause will be strengthened, and the cycle will continue, and we'll act surprised when something else blows up in America a month from now.

It's being called an "act of war." Yes, but it's an unwinnable war, as it's a war of religion -- a war of intolerance -- a war of Us Vs. Them with no gray area present or permissible. It's a war that no bombing, no assassination, no crackdown on civil liberties will quell. It's a war I don't have an answer or a solution for. And no flag, no T-shirt, and no grandstanding displays of patriotism can make a meaningful difference, or bring our lost people back. We need to put our energy and our emotions into more productive channels.

And I'm venting, and I'll stop now.