When I tuned into the live hearings, yet another senator was hauling out that frayed phrase, "a city upon a hill . . . " popularized by John Winthrop's 1630 sermon, but hailing of course from the Bible--the parable of salt and light in Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. I've lost track of how many presidents and how many politicians have pulled that moldy old thing out of the drawer, but I'll never forget that Sarah Palin attributed the metaphor to Ronald Reagan.
The bad part is that our senators still think America is exceptional. Or feel they have to claim that it is. The eyes of the world are upon us, because we're exceptionally awful. We elected a gangster, we spread COVID like wildfire, we've colonized oil-rich regions under the guise of bringing them democracy, and don't get me started on our other sins.
Some leader ought to be pointing out that we've failed dramatically but plan to do better. "Some day," the speaker of the house ought to say, "we'll be worthy of the notion that America is a shining example--a city upon a hill." If we try really hard, and we'll start by taking Greta Thunberg seriously and acting on all her recommendations.
If American were the City Upon A Hill, Mike Pence would have invoked the 25th Amendment. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and every other possible platform--Parler.Com I Mean You--would have banned Trump the nanosecond he displayed his un-presidential qualities. We would not be engulfed by Q-Anon.
In this kind of chaos, as Yeats observed, the best lack all conviction and the worst are filled with passionate intensity. Let's have some passionate intensity from the best, and some spine. Remove this horrifying criminal from office. If we can't do that, we're not America.
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