Look out

What were we saying about scratching that veneer?  When angry, grieving people start spontaneously singing patriotic songs, you're seeing bonding of a sort that may turn out very dangerous for the people who have angered and grieved them.










7 comments:

Grim said...

I can remember that phase in 2001 very clearly.

douglas said...

"To arms citizens
Form your battalions
March, march
Let impure blood
Water our furrows"


Le Marseilaise isn't exactly "God Bless America". Hopefully, they mean it.

Cass said...

I can remember that phase in 2001 very clearly.

Yep. I also remember that it didn't last long, and also that the ones who seemed most upset got over it soonest. Like my in-laws, who were asking my husband if the military was going to search private storage lockers, but quickly segued into thinking Bush was overreacting.

*sigh*

I've always distrusted strong emotion.

When I was younger, one of the first things I learned about people was that the people who evoked the strongest responses from me almost never ended up being important to me, and I couldn't necessarily trust those responses. My first impression of my husband was rather negative (and vice versa), and we've been happily married for 35 years.

Emotion has always seemed like more of a signal than a message, if that makes any sense. It tells you something's going on, but the significance isn't always clear at the time.

That said, I'd love to believe we're nearing some sort of tipping point with Islamism.

MikeD said...

Eh, I wish the National Assembly had sung it less like a dirge and more like the defiant tone we see in Casablanca (still one of the best scenes in cinema, IMO).

Texan99 said...

I'd never predict that the mood will last, but it's liable to be very uncomfortable for a while for the people who provoked it. Several of them are already past caring.

Cass said...

Sorry - didn't mean to be so cynical. I just find the whole thing frustrating so I was venting :p

Texan99 said...

I don't think you were being cynical at all. We all saw what happened last time. Intense civic emotion is a fickle and irrational force. It's just that it's also quite strong and dangerous while it lasts, so it's a risky business stirring it up. Here's hoping the lightning strikes where it belongs before it disappears again.