Dissent 41
January 18, 2000
Club WASP
By Big Bill [Roy Bauer]
“Shift
that fat ass, Harry. But slowly, or you’ll swamp the damned boat.” [--George
Washington]
I must say, I’m still reeling from that
fine display of patriotism and tootage provided by Lee Walker’s “Sons of the
American Revolution” last month (Dec. 13). That night, many of us, and not only
Mr. Frogue, were struck by the same thought: How can I join the “Sons”?
Well, probably, we can’t. Upon
opening the website for the National Society of the Sons of the American
Revolution, I soon discovered that the SAR “is a ‘lineage’ society, which means
you must have an ancestor who supported the cause of American Independence
during the years 1774-1783.” Oh.
I wondered how many “Bauers” are Sons.
Then I wondered how many Latinos, Asians, and African Americans are Sons. Not
many, I bet. Actually, if you become a member of the SAR, you’re not called a
“Son”; you’re called a “Compatriot.” Looks like Compatriots are a bunch of
white guys with names like “Washington” and “Walker.” No wonder Mr. Frogue
wants to join!
I wiped away a tear—no doubt, I’m a
descendant of those devilish anti-Revolutionary Hessians—and then read on. “The
SAR,” says the site, “is a historical, educational, and patriotic
non-profit...corporation that seeks to maintain and extend,” among other
things, “an appreciation for true patriotism” and “a respect for our national
symbols.”
National symbols? Sure enough, the SAR are
pretty political, and they’ve come out in favor of an amendment to the
Constitution “for the protection of the American flag.” Evidently, these
Compatriots will defend with their lives—in weekend reenactments—the right of
lawmakers to jail a guy for expressing his contempt for this fucked-up,
flag-happy country.
The website, which is littered with photos
of people who could easily have appeared in “Deliverance,” indicated that the
SAR has a magazine, the articles of which were available with the click of my
mouse. I clicked, and there appeared an article entitled “George Washington:
the Greatest Patriot of All,” written by Compatriot Larry D. McClanahan.
Mr. McClanahan, who hails from Tennessee,
complains that “recent historical efforts have been aimed at discrediting
George Washington, his deeds, and the ideals defended by him and other founding
Patriots.” I guess Larry means the slavery thing. George did own hundreds of
slaves. Plus, he lost most of his battles and was into guerrilla warfare—and
all because he didn’t like his tax bill!
McClanahan doesn’t want to talk about any
of that, for he is obsessed with the notion that our national Dad was guided by
the Lord, for, at one point, he notes that “Many students of George
Washington’s life believe that he was led and protected by divine providence.”
“Evidence,” writes the perspicacious McClanahan, is provided by George’s voyage
to Barbados, where he became infected with smallpox but didn’t die. Imagine!
Another time, he was in this battle, see, and he found bullet holes in his coat
but not in him. Pretty spooky, I’d
say. An Indian chief said that George was protected by the Great Spirit, and so
that clinched it.
McClanahan, ever the scholar, goes on to
relate an “account,” according to which George “received a prophecy for the new
nation from a specter [a malignant dwarf] who appeared to him late at night as
he sat in his tent near the fire.” Wow.
In the end, says M, George died of a cold.
No one knows if his coat died of that cold, too.
Another Compatriot, one James R. Westlake,
offers an article entitled “Mount Vernon.” Like McClanahan, Westlake isn’t into
“discrediting” George. Here’s how he describes Washington’s Mount Vernon
estate: it “became a self-sustaining entity, which housed, fed, and clothed the
many persons who lived on the lands and worked the farms. [Washington] was
indeed a successful gentleman farmer....” Those “many persons” were pretty
happy and carefree, I bet—when they weren’t being flogged and branded and
stuff.
I looked and looked, and nowhere in the
SAR site could I find my favorite George Washington story, which comes straight
from General “Ox” Knox, who accompanied Washington across the Delaware—just
before his troops sneak-attacked the Hessians on Christmas Day. According to
Knox, when Washington stepped into the boat, he nudged his 280-pound friend and
said, “Shift that fat ass, Harry. But slowly, or you’ll swamp the damned boat.”
—BB
No comments:
Post a Comment