Thursday, November 22, 2007
ROCKIN'
I lived in Plymouth, MA for many years.
The preoccupation with the Pilgrims there is considerable.
They are hard to avoid especially when the Rock itself is in the center of town.
As a result, the Plymoutheans take themselves quite seriously as the custodians of America's history.
The slogan is "America's Home Town".
Every Thanksgiving, there is a 'procession'. A reenactment of the Pilgrims going to church along with fire engines, politicians, and drum and bugle corps.
It was bad enough when the American Indians claimed that they were there first and disrupted the procession with demonstrations in the 70's.
Now, it looks as though the Jamestown Colony is going to disrupt the entire template of Pilgim primacy.
If Not First in Time, First in the Country’s Heart
It turns out that even the bushie dissed Plymouth when he was in Viginia the other day. Talkin' to the base.
No one in Massachusetts is going to add to his already abysmal approval rating.
Anyway, here I am thousands of miles away and I can still taste and smell the salt and algae in the air and see the tide coming in on The Rock.
It is a powerful symbol and I am happy and proud to live in the country which was born from those and other few first steps.
