Ferras’ “Hollywood’s Not America” isn’t, as its title led me to expect, a song about Hollywood’s monolithically leftish political culture. But the mere suggestion of that in the phrase certainly rings true and timely as the Oscars approach.
It’s funny: I grew up in Los Angeles as a big fan of the movies. Many of them became (I now recount with no small measure of embarrassment) lenses through which I came to view my own hopes and dreams, cultivate my aspirations, and imagine my possible futures. I would never then have remotely imagined caring as little as I do now what Hollywood’s legions of self-important, self-appointed social commentators think of our country, our culture, our way of life. They’ve gone off the deep end for sure, and the disconnect between the ideological bubble they inhabit and the rest of America has never been more apparent.
In a silly sentimental way, it’s too bad my idealization of Hollywood had to meet with disillusionment. But I’m glad to have realized I have far better things to aspire to than Hollywood could ever cook up, and much better uses for my time than passively taking in the imaginings of others. These days I feel much more inclined to spend my time doing, creating, learning. And that can hardly be a bad thing.
Michael Totten has posted another characteristically excellent, in-depth report from Iraq — this time from Fallujah, as the Marines there train the local Iraqi Police and prepare to leave patrolling of this once volatile, now startlingly calm city in their hands.
As always, Michael provides insightful, informative reporting that’s hard to come by elsewhere — thoroughly engaging and well worth reading in its entirety.
If you like Michael’s work, consider dropping something in the tipjar that makes his travels possible. (I just did so myself.)
Update 2/12: Part III is up now. A few among many especially relevant excerpts, addressing the unfortunate disconnect between popular perception and what Totten has witnessed on the ground:
According to planet-wide conventional wisdom, United States soldiers and Marines are on an abusive rampage in Iraq. Relentless media coverage of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib – which really did occur, but which the United States didn’t sanction or tolerate – seriously distorted what actually goes on in Iraq most of the time. The United States military is far from perfect and is hardly guilt-free, but it’s the most law-abiding and humane institution in Iraq at this time.
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Such people do not wish to recklessly fire their weapons and harm civilians. Their rules of engagement are sharply restrictive, much more so than most American civilians have any idea. The rules are certainly more restrictive than Iraqi civilians expected when the Americans showed up in force in 2003.
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I’ve said before that American soldiers and Marines aren’t the bloodthirsty killers of the popular (in certain quarters) imagination, and that they are far less racist against Arabs than average Americans. They are also, famously, less racist against each other, and they have been since they were forcibly integrated after World War II. This is due to sustained everyday contact with each other and with Iraqis. The stereotype of the racist and unhinged American soldier and Marine is itself a bigoted caricature based almost entirely on sensationalist journalism and recklessly irresponsible war movies.
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You know who else is in Iraq and therefore knows what the country is really like? Iraqis. (Of course.) They see and experience much of the same kinds of events George Packer and I have seen and experienced. They don’t learn about Iraq from Reuters and Hollywood. And they are less anti-American than they were during the initial invasion in 2003 – at least many of those who have had sustained contact with Marines and soldiers. Sustained contact with the “other” breaks down bigotry all around, even in war zones.
The violent strain of anti-Americanism in Fallujah and the surrounding area has ebbed almost completely. People here know Americans are not the enemy. They know Americans protect them from murder and intimidation from the head-choppers and car bombers. They know Americans provide medical care to Iraqis hurt by insurgents and even to insurgents wounded in battle.
At Little Green Footballs, c/o Instapundit:
Barack Obama won’t wear an American flag on his lapel, but on the wall of his Houston campaign office: a Cuban flag with a picture of Communist mass murderer Che Guevara.
(Follow the link for pictures and video.)
Yow. Sure seems like the Obama campaign staff ought make an effort to keep that kind of stuff away from the cameras…
Candidates on the contemporary American left don’t run for office in this country as outright “socialists”, knowing full well that the moniker would render them unelectable in the United States, but incidents like this one (which may say more about certain of Obama’s supporters than Obama himself) do seem to shed light on the shared ideological affinities…
over at Dr. Helen’s.
It often seems to me that our biggest problem in the U.S. is a national epidemic of cultural self-doubt.
In response to the most recent of several recommendations over the years, I’ve finally picked up a copy of Atlas Shrugged and dug in for what I’ve been assured will be a well worthwhile 1166 pages of reading. (I’ve only made it up to page 232 so far, so no spoilers, please, as I’m muchly enjoying the story!)
Among my favorite passages thus far, this bit of insight into protagonist Hank Rearden in a moment of crisis (p. 214):
He saw for the first time that he had never known fear because, against any disaster, he had held the omnipotent cure of being able to act. No, he thought, not an assurance of victory — who can ever have that? — only the chance to act, which is all one needs. Now he was contemplating, impersonally and for the first time, the real heart of terror: being delivered to destruction with one’s hands tied behind one’s back.
Well, then, go on with your hands tied, he thought. Go on in chains. Go on. It must not stop you. . . .
The passage definitely struck a chord with me, as the mere opportunity to act of my own accord, even if sometimes in error, is all that I have ever asked, and all that ever seemed truly necessary to me.
I look forward to enjoying more such gems if what I’ve read so far is representative of what’s in store.
