“When we are born, we cry that we are come
To this great stage of fools.”
Oh look, they’re dumping tea into the harbor, I thought to myself, my head aching a bit from the previous night’s revelry.
It was midday Friday last, the day after the lighting of the great American stage for the State of the Union and the usual GOP rebuttal.
Why are they immediately pulling those tea crates back on board the ship? I chuckled, overlooking Boston Harbor at the Tea Ships. I don’t think that’s how the Sons of Liberty did it. At least they actually got their tea wet.
When you’re an Alabamian visiting old friends in Boston, eating, drinking and seeing the sights is what you do. But when you also have to watch yet another State of the Union on your first night in a new town, you especially drink. If President Biden is allowed a bump to boost his speeches, I should at least be forgiven for privately indulging in a little beer and wine – okay, lots of beer and wine – to endure the same while trying to stay sane.
The beer and wine flowed so well that I genuinely thought Alabama Sen. Katie Britt’s rebuttal was just fantastic! Captivating! In my stewed state of mind, something about seeing Montgomery, Ala., at the top left of the screen had this Auburn grad rooting for my hometown senator like a Bamer.
Then I woke up the next morning.
What a headache.
The reaction to both Biden and Britt seemed even more scripted and contrived than either of their speeches, like dogs bred to bay at the smell of chicken skin and peanut butter.
Even after reading and watching her speech in a much clearer state of mind the next day, I thought Britt was still spot on, whereas the reaction to her speech was what I found particularly unhinged and performative.
The flippancy with which people dismissed the decades-old problem of sex trafficking while being so swift to condemn Britt as a hypocrite should be astounding, but it’s not surprising whatsoever. “Hypocrisy!” is America’s favorite throwaway insult.
If anything was organic about the reaction, it’s that a fractured American body politic is fated to fits of rage and madness. Americans would shout down a thunderstorm with mockery and taunts if they thought it would help their political cause.
From high-level politicians to the lowliest members of the crowd, when politically-minded Americans now try to engage one another, we tend to fail. Yes, I suppose I am part of that failure too, addicted to the latest hot takes in political media – even while I’m supposed to be experiencing a new city with old friends.
As we approached Boston Harbor, I did manage to pull my attention away from my phone. That's when I noticed the tourists and costumed re-enactors throwing tethered tea crates into the water, only to retrieve them seconds later with a quick pull of firmly attached ropes.
There it was, the Boston Tea Party – the colonies’ inaugural insurrectionary act (pardon me, “protest”) against the British yoke – now reduced to a harmless, charming little re-enactment. All that boiled blood, that spirit of danger, rebellion, tar-and-feather treason from 1773 has been rung out of the event by now; it is a faded memory, a well-worn history museum suitable for grade school and golden years.
But, sadly, it’s not just the Boston Tea Party that has become a low-resolution imitation of the real thing. So, too, have State of the Union addresses, opposition party rebuttals, and corporate media reactions. American history has been transformed into a series of tattered and tired phrases.
It’s not that Americans don’t believe in American exceptionalism; they’re just tired of going through the motions and hearing the same tired lines over and over again. Exceptionalism ain’t exceptional when reduced to a hollow cliche. Allusions to America’s most historic moments are ensnared to serve mere stagecraft – as the nation's symbols and rituals continue to wane in practical significance the further they diverge from current reality.
In 2024 America, politics is stricken with two kinds of paper-thin reenactments: the kind the old put on to remember themselves before they inevitably lose out to time, and the kind the young play to pretend they are ready to replace their forebears. Yet, something about our shared American legacy has grown stale, lost between generations. It’s as though we are suffering from a collective bout of madness and senility, forgetting ourselves and giving into cynical and suspicious moods.
Regarding Britt’s debut, what a tragedy that the American kitchen table is no longer a wholesome symbol of hearth and home but must be uncharitably sneered at as a sign of patriarchy, privilege, and pandering. What a shame to see a successful young mother and professional like Britt (yes, even if she is prone to a bit of the dramatics and sibilance) cavalierly called a “bitch” on national TV for cheap laughs to program the masses.
That said, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Katie Britt – anyone who seriously seeks the political limelight – knows what they’re in for. Being spoofed on SNL is just part of the process. They do not need my defense or anyone else’s against the slings and arrows of the political arena. Plus, the mockery just raises their profiles.
But I do grow tired of seeing old and young turn demented on this great American stage of fools. It’s not just kings who go mad, but entire nations.
If America is going to survive its collective madness in 2024 without letting her inheritance be torn to shreds, I suspect we must go through a humbling crucible the likes of which we have never witnessed in American history.
Cheap reenactments and allusions to the past can only do so much.
Eventually, Americans must remove their historic tethers and get their tea wet again.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances as well as any feedback, please email joeyclarklive@gmail.com. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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