Michael Medved is very sad. There is a discernible droop to his moustache: perhaps it is soaked in his tears.
A nation with no pride in its past will feel little confidence in its future.
Liberals have done a great disservice to America, you see, by pointing out that slavery kinda sucked. So now Americans don't like America very much anymore and our holiday parties are grim, bitter affairs: "This 'tainted legacy,' this endlessly analyzed burden of embarrassment and apology, has brought a bittersweet or even decidedly sour flavor to great national celebrations that formerly featured joy and jingoism." (He really wrote that.)
But Medved should cheer up and scrub that sorry 'stache, perhaps by washing it in the blood of patriots. That tainted legacy he is giving -- well, he may take his tears but that's not nearly all! Remember, a nation is not judged by how much it loves, but by how much it is loved by others. What is a nation but a wish that the heart makes? Who could doubt that some nations were born to win, some to lose -- some, surely, were born to sing the blues. Their movie just goes on and on and on: Medved ought not to stop believing.
Hell, if nothing else he should be proud of his deft touch with an anecdote:
An American Indian academic and musician named David A. Yeagley (an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation) tells a sobering story about one of his students at Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City. A “tall and pretty” girl with amber hair and brown eyes, she spoke out in a class discussion about patriotism. “Look, Dr. Yeagley,” she declared, “I don’t see anything about my culture to be proud of. It’s all nothing. My race is just nothing.”
“Look at your culture,” she continued. “Look at American Indian tradition. Now I think that’s really great. You have something to be proud of. My culture is nothing.”
Concerning this unforgettable interchange, Professor Yeagley observed: “The Cheyenne people have a saying: A nation is never conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground.
“Who had conquered Rachel’s people? What had led her to disrespect them? Why did she behave like a woman of a defeated tribe?
“They say that a warrior is measured by the strength of his enemies. As an Indian, I am proud of the fact that it took the mightiest nation on earth to defeat me.
“But I don’t feel so proud when I listen to Rachel. It gives me no solace to see the white man self-destruct. If Rachel’s people are ‘nothing,’ what does that say about mine?”
And what does it say about each of us if we see ourselves as heirs to “nothing” – to only a tainted legacy and a heritage of shame?
So cheer up, white broads! At least your ancestors kicked Comanche ass. And that's just super.
(To be serious for a moment, the conflation of "culture" with "race" here tells us quite a bit about what Medved's really bumming over. Moreover, you may or not be surprised to learn that Yeagley -- who writes for noted hotbed of sanity FrontPage mag -- is a bit of a mental patient when it comes to the subject of race and attractive young women.)