Boston Globe syndicated columnist Derrick Z. Jackson is worried about America: the Chicago Tribune puts this headline on his coulmn today: "Is Our American Way Of Life Worth Saving?"

Here's what's eating at Jackson. Over the course of the war in Iraq and our war against terrorists, President George W. Bush has often referred to the importance of preserving the American way of life. But Jackson wonders how good that way really is. For instance, he complains Bush hasn't asked us to give up our plasma TV screens, to show sacrifice while servicemen and women are dying in Iraq. He also has some issues with high-income households spending more per year on entertainment than education and reading. Well I guess they could fix that by sending their kids to private schools more often, and ripping up their library cards.

The nub of Jackson's plaint is warmed-over socialism, and a flailing "gotcha" on domestic surveillance:

With all this talk about soldiers dying for our way of life, you would think the "way of life" being protected here is quite serious. It cannot be about protecting our freedoms, since Bush proudly admits--after it was exposed--that he secretly ordered the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on those he suspects of terrorism without obtaining warrants. The truth, magnified by the materialistic marketing of the holiday season, is embarrassing for a nation that loves to talk about military sacrifice. While the sons and daughters of the middle and lower classes die in Iraq, the wealthy count their toys, literally.

Derrick: wealth is not evil, and military enlistees choose to serve, they are not drafted. If you feel they lack other options, and if in fact some do, it is a result of choices they and their parents have made. Your Vietnam era rhetoric is flaccid. Of course, a mandatory draft might help even things out.

Spying-wise, Derrick, the real issue is terrorism, not the approval procedures for surveillance of domestic suspects working with overseas collaborators to plot destruction of our transit facilities, high-rises and malls with explosives, and our cities and metropolitan regions with enriched uranium and plutonium. Al-Qaeda declared war long before 9/11, and you'd be among the first to point fingers, Derrick, if another deadly terrorist attack occured here after the horror of 9/11. Bush followed a legal path to authorize the surveillances in question, which - as you have doubtless noted - will continue. You've lost the point already, and I wonder at the indiscriminate alarmism of many Bush critics. It's slippery en route to that slippery slope.

If anything, we are still too lax about freedoms granted to foreign visitors and immigrants. We're at war; and our President - a real leader who cares little for ankle-biting pundits - is doing his best to protect our nation from serious and credible terrorist threats. I'm happy some Republicans are upset with the president about the recent surveillance news, because it shows one of the reasons our way of life is so valuable. Dissent is tolerated and expected, even within political parties. Democrats will have every opportunity to elect a President who would promise not to do what Bush has done on domestic surveillance, but of course, in the end, no such promises will be made by a winning candidate.

Here are a few more great things about the American way of life:

fast cars, SUVs, oil exploration, biodiesel, and research into algae-based fuels;

ports, commerce and international trade;

conceal-carry permits and the right to armed self-defense;

curvy women in tight clothes;

jazz, rock 'n' roll, r&b, blues, and rare groove;

economic growth and opportunity;

veal chops, and the olive bar at the fancypants grocery;

Swiffers;

public libraries;

freedom of religion, association, and political expression;

the freedom to be smart, or stupid, and choose one's own way of life in America.

I think that about covers it, Derrick Z. Jackson.......

And you're entirely welcome.

TECHNORATI TAGS: AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE, DERRICK Z. JACKSON, BOSTON GLOBE, GEORGE W. BUSH, BUSH, SURVEILLANCE

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at December 26, 2005 01:08 PM

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