Yesterday, Independence Day, Vice President Joe Biden attended a naturalization ceremony at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq.  During the ceremony 237 U.S. servicemen from 59 countries, including Iraq, were sworn in as citizens of the United States of America.  At the conclusion of this solemn, undoubtedly moving and inspirational occasion, and in the presence of his own son Beau (currently serving in the 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade, Delaware Army National Guard), this is what the Vice President of the United States had to say: ”As corny as it sounds,” he told the troops, “Damn, I’m proud to be an American!” 

Where to begin?  

OK, if you were really proud to be an American, Mr. Vice President, you wouldn’t find it necessary to preface that declaration with the words, “as corny as it sounds”.  If you were really proud to be an American those words wouldn’t sound corny to you.  Then again, if you were really proud to be an American you wouldn’t be serving under a President who spent his last trip overseas apologizing to the world on behalf of America.  You wouldn’t be serving under a President who either doesn’t recognize or simply doesn’t understand the concept of American exceptionalism.  You wouldn’t, it could be reasonably argued, be a member of the current Democrat Party.     

Joe Biden is known in Democratic circles as a “shoot-from-the-hip” type of guy, which means he’s known for shooting his mouth off on subjects he knows nothing about without the slightest regard for where he is or who he’s speaking to.  You might say that’s his trademark, along with the serial plagiarism and the hair plugs.  Well, yesterday’s outburst was vintage Biden.  It simply never occurred to America’s Number Two (as he’s known around my house) that it might be sort of…oh, I don’t know, moronic?…to stand up in front of hundreds of U.S. soldiers in a combat theater and tell them you think it’s corny to feel proud of your country.  Then again, Biden knows virtually nothing about the military despite his (much boasted-about) service on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as any English-speaking adult who’s analyzed Biden’s, uh, “thoughts” on Iraq could tell you.  Like Vice President Dick Cheney (who I’m sure doesn’t think it’s corny to be proud to be an American), Vice President Biden sought and was granted five military deferments during the Vietnam War.  So like Senator Barbara Boxer, who recently scolded a brigadier general for (correctly and properly, as it turns out) addressing her as “M’am”, Biden might be forgiven for the stupidity of today’s remarks on the grounds that’s he’s simply ignorant of military culture. Which I guess would be something else for him not to be proud of.  Then again, it could be worse. Michelle Obama only started being proud of her country about a year and a half ago, and she’s the First Lady! 

But let’s say a reasonable person might, under certain circumstances, be feeling somewhat reticent, somewhat bashful about a full-throated declaration of pride in being an American.  Like, say, after visiting the Bill Clinton Presidential Library or attending a deceased senator’s memorial service with Al Franken or something like that.  OK, fair enough.  Personally I don’t get it, but I suppose that, in some hypothetical situation, the words, “I’m proud to be an American” might strike some hypothetical person as being somewhat corny.  But if there’s one person, in one scenario, who should never, ever feel that it’s corny to be proud to be an American, it would be: 

- The Vice President of the United States.
- Surrounded by hundreds of U.S. servicemen and women.
- Who have just become U.S. citizens.
- In a war zone.
- On Independence Day.
- You stupid moron, you.  

So on this July the Fourth weekend, please take a moment to contemplate the implications of Joe Biden’s casual, unscripted (thus, highly revealing) thoughts on what it means to him to be an American.  And after careful consideration if you still think an arrogant,  grinning, eye-blinking, speech-stealing simpleton like Joe Biden is qualified to be Vice President of the United States–  and Sarah Palin is not!–  I’d love to hear from you in care of this website.  

As for the rest of you: at the risk of sounding too corny, happy Independence Day to you all, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

I made the above painting:

A. To point out to the art community who I am?

B. To make clear to my Latino brothers and sisters who I am?

C. To leave no doubt to anyone as to who I am?

D. To suggest that the journey is relevant but that in the long run, it is who you are now and what you do now that matters?

E. All of the above?

Alvaro Avillar’s portfolio can be viewed here.

Lest we forget, we are at war. 

Men and women at this very moment are fighting for their lives and for the lives of those they took an oath to protect and defend. 

There have been some recent films about war and what it means for the “average Joe” to be at war. A few of these are receiving deserving accolades for their realism. No, not the realism of blood and guts spilled, which is what war is, of course, but the realism of human behavior in adverse conditions, or as Hemingway put it, grace under pressure. This is the human condition that we all face, in one form or another, each and every day of our lives. Of course, most of us can face our pressures, make our decisions, get through our daily angst without wondering if a shell is going to go off five feet away, having the vehicle we’re riding in targeted for destruction or being exposed to combinations of chemicals not even named yet. No, we don’t have that extra worry. But some out there do. 

One classic Hollywood film which articulates the stress of war with keen insight and wry humor, as well as pathos, is the often overlooked “Battleground,” directed by William Wellman and released by MGM in 1949.  

“Battleground” is not just a great war film. It’s a great film by any standard, in any genre. Depicting the struggles of the 101st Airborne division at the historic Battle of the Bulge, director Wellman wisely puts the emphasis on characters not tanks, on people rather than explosions.

The title “Battleground” implies not only the physical place where these soldiers battle with enemies in different uniforms, but moreover, the mental terrain they must also traverse in order to survive the horrors, the fear, and yes, the inescapable boredom of war.

Disregard the critics who say there is “too much talk” in this film, as clumsy misfires coming from those who do not, nor ever had to understand the sublime contrasts of war. Theirs is the voice of the textbook mentality, too many classes and not enough life. They should be thankful that their experience on this subject is lacking.

Talk to any veteran of war, however, particularly WWII, and you will hear stories paralleling exactly those depicted in Wellman’s “Battleground”: moments of sheer terror interspersed with eternities of boredom and the dread of not knowing what’s going on. Such feelings of helplessness were cut down to size only by the chit-chat and banter of those brave souls in attendance who feared for their lives just like you or I would. Also disregard the cynics who say such scenes are unrealistic or worse yet, propaganda, as soldiers could not possibly be so introspective, so self deprecating, so insightful while under fire. These criticisms couldn’t be farther from the truth, or the historical record, for that matter. It is exactly these moments, in battle, between explosions when “foxhole chatter”  turns to the insignificant topic just as easily and as often as it does to the crucial themes of life and death. 

Ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. 

There are many great scenes in this movie, but when actor Leon Ames as the chaplain explains why they are there, freezing, hungry and dying, and not back home,  and what could this fight possibly have to do with them in America, and as individuals, are words and sentiment that are as applicable today as they were in that far away, now non-existent world of Nazi occupied Europe. 

Another part of the film often cited as deserving of ridicule, of committing that worst of crimes for the so-called sophisticated viewer, is the ending. “It’s corny,” is often heard.  This segment, the “sound off scene,” as it’s sometimes called, is arguably one of the finest moments in the entire movie.  Wellman knew enough, as did Edward Zwick who might very well have been inspired by this scene for his marvelous “Glory,” to show the importance of duty. Wellman illustrates this in heart-wrenching poignancy as the barely surviving men pass their fresh replacements on the road. If you are a man, and this scene doesn’t move you, I’m afraid you have no soul. That, or you’ve been watching too much parody. 

“Battleground“ is not what is mistakenly called an anti-war film. That is a misnomer. Nonsense. All well made war films are, in essence, anti-war films. Just like all soldiers are against war, policemen against crime, doctors against illness. These soldiers don’t want to die. Neither do soldiers in other battles, other wars. To call any film ‘anti-war’ is to misunderstand the philosophy at the core of every fighting man and woman. Current fashion would have us believe that soldiers want to kill, maim, and loot. Current fashion would have us believe that all wars are evil, unnecessary, or exercises in national arrogance, or the newly revived terms, “colonialism” and “imperialism” (both particularly fashionable in descriptions of the previous administration’s actions and most likely banned from use or utterance by the major media outlets in describing the present one).  Current fashion would have us believe that if soldiers complain, it can only mean that they don’t agree with the need to fight, the need to stop that opposing force, or defend one’s way of life: the need to do what needs to be done.

Those who follow current fashion will not be able to accept such paradoxes, nor be able to understand this film and its main themes of humanity, duty, perseverance, and doing a dirty, dangerous job in the face of overwhelming odds. Many will scoff at the notion that man is capable of this and can do so with moments of introspection, poignancy and humor. Unsurprisingly, many of our greatest novelists, filmmakers and artists spent time in settings very similar to the characters in this story. Current fashion would prefer that we didn’t remember that part.

Thank goodness that the men who fought in battles like those depicted in this film are, for the most part, mercifully spared the current fashion.