Nation's Flattery of Military Distorts its Role in Freedom
by Pierre Tristam

Six weeks after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush went to Yankee Stadium to throw the first pitch before a World Series game. As journalist Bob Woodward described it, "he raised his arm and gave a thumbs-up to the crowd on the third base side of the field. . . . Probably 15,000 fans threw their arms in the air imitating the motion. Watching from owner George Steinbrenner's box, Karl Rove thought, "It's like being at a Nazi rally." It wouldn't have been so disturbing if it had been an isolated (and understandable) moment of mass catharsis following the recent attack on the city. But public and mass displays of allegiance, mandatory patriotism and doctrinal deference to authority, authority in uniform especially, is becoming as fashionable as camouflage hats for tots and World War II fetishism.

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