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Monday, July 28, 2003
Because if you tear down Neil Cavuto, you're tearing down Fox News, and if you're tearing down Fox News, you're tearing down America....
For some reason Townhall gives Neil Cavuto bandwidth not to write well-reasoned analytical columns on the issues of the day, but instead to write these personal pissy letters to his readers or viewers or whatever. This weeks endeavor hits a new low in faux patriotic bluster:
But occasionally I get particularly hurtful e-mail that even I must admit hits a chord. One concerned my wearing a flag pin each night on my program. I don't make an issue of it, but one particular viewer did. A Fred C. (I'll leave out his last name) wrote "it bordered on the sickening, day in and day out, shoving your pseudo-patriotism on viewers who want news, not cheerleading."
He went on to say that since I didn't serve in the military, who was I to talk up the military; and since I enjoyed an apparently cushy life, how dare I act "like a bleeding patriot."
This is as much an opportunity to respond to Fred as it is to make a point in general.
First off, I don't make a big thing of wearing a pin. It is, after all, just a pin. But it's a powerful symbol for me. It represents a country that lets me do what I like to do, in an environment in which I'm free to do it.
(Cue swelling patriotic music....)
Fred, I don't take issue with people who do not wear flag pins, so why should you take issue with those who do? You go on to claim in your letter that my patriotic bias shows through again and again. You're right there, because I do like it here. I like the opportunities this country affords me, all made possible by people who made big sacrifices before me.
You say that I cannot salute because I haven't served. I strongly disagree, because you see, Fred, you don't have to march in the parade to proudly wave and honor those who do. You don't have to give blood for your country to never forget those who did that and much more for your country.
(Bring up sound of Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic...)
Frankly I'm sick and tired of journalists who prefer to honor a profession more than the country that makes that profession possible. I believe strongly, Fred, that you can be a good journalist and a good American at the same time. The two are not mutually exclusive.
I ask just as penetrating questions and probe just as critical issues. But I do so with a firm appreciation of the place from which I'm doing it . . . the United States of America. You're right, Fred, I didn't serve this country. But I do love this country. I'm the son of a World War II veteran who fought to make sure I could enjoy the good life I do today. I'd much sooner salute that generation than cavalierly forget that generation.
( Images of bombs bursting in air....explosions....backdrop of enormous flag waving slowly in the wind...turn music up to 11....)
I'd much rather emphasize the good in this country than harp on the bad in this country. All is not perfect here, but I'll tell you this . . . it's a hell of a lot better than almost anywhere else. I believe that, and I report that.
You're right, Fred. That makes me biased. I'd much sooner look at those who serve my country and say "thank you" than "screw you." They're the reason I'm here. The least I can do is let them know how grateful I am that they are here.
A pin is a small thing, but for me it's a powerful thing . . . a daily reminder of a country and a system of government that lets me do what I love every day.
Fred, you call me a cheerleader. You're right. I am. And I'm damn proud of it . . . first as a citizen, then a distant second . . . as a journalist.
(Crescendo! Jets flying overhead. Twenty-one gun salute. Fireworks over the Statue of Liberty. Little Jon-Jon saluting his father's casket. Fade to Iwo Jima statue. More flags. More music. More everything. Cavuto's potato-head morphs into Uncle Sam....)
Boy. If that doesn't get you all goosebumpy and nipple-hardened.....
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