“America! America! God mend thine every flaw…” – Katherine Lee Bates, July 4, 1895
Two of the most prominent criticisms made of President Obama, particularly among his most ardent political opponents, are that he is constantly apologizing for past American policies and behavior and that he is naively and dangerously soft on our declared enemies.
The apology critique has been renewed over the past week with the release of former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness. The charges that Obama is too soft have recently been fueled by former Vice President Dick Cheney’s appearances in a variety of forums and the activities of the organization Keep America Safe, led by Cheney’s daughter Liz.
Last week, two articles written by and appearing in publications widely considered right on the political spectrum, Robert Guest of The Economist and Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune effectively countered these criticisms. Guest notes:
American drones fired missiles at suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan’s tribal areas 55 times last year, killing hundreds of jihadists and who knows how many civilians. This year, the killing has accelerated; so far more than a dozen strikes have been reported. Mr. Obama orders assassinations at a far brisker pace than George Bush ever did.
Chapman delivers an even more powerful blow to the assertion that Obama is, as popular conservative commentator Michelle Malkin calls him, “The Groveler in Chief,” and he invokes a line from one of America’s most famous poems to do it. He explains that Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush apologized for America, such as Reagan’s comments when signing a law providing compensation for Japanese Americans forced into World War II-era internment camps and Bush’s expressed regret of the terms agreed to by the U.S. at the Yalta Conference, which many believe helped the Soviet Union carve up Eastern Europe after the conclusion of World War II. Chapman concludes his piece:
Obama no more deserves condemnation for recognizing our dark moments than does Bush. No government is perfect, and no nation is exempt from the temptations of self-interest and hypocrisy.
We’ve all known people who can never admit error or make amends to those they have wronged. We do not regard such people as strong and wise. We regard them as weak and immature. A vice in an individual is not a virtue in a president.
Romney ends his book by quoting from “America the Beautiful”: “America! America! God shed his grace on thee.” Never mind another of the lyricist’s hopes for her country: “God mend thine every flaw.”
The lyricist Chapman refers to is poet and professor Katherine Bates. Her interesting personal history is here, a classic rendition by Ray Charles of this American standard is here, and the second verse of her famous poem follows:
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
