Land of the Free, Home of the Brave
"Land of the Free, Home of the Brave"
As we remembered Sept. 11, and reflected on that day, I remembered telling my writing partner on Sept. 11, 2001 that America is the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave," and that we were going to have to be very brave in the coming years in order to remain free.
Though I knew the future held so many unknowns as to what that bravery would have to be, there was not one thought in my mind that I would be saying what I am about to say. There was not even the hint of an idea either that I would feel compelled to write the novel, "White King and the Doctor" in order to help keep my country free.
Today-- six years after our lives as we knew them, changed--we are going to have to be brave enough, (some more than others) to admit that we've been "Had." We're going to have to admit that we fell for the oldest military strategy in the world--divide and conquer.
This enemy isn't conquering us by enticing some general into dividing his forces, splitting up his regiment, and thus weakening and exposing them. No, I only wish it had been this conventional, and predictable.
This enemy is doing it through propaganda--using the most skillful Public Relations machine I've ever seen to split us RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE. One only has to look at the political stalemate that has engulfed us over the last 6 years, with Americans supposedly equally divided-- or any of the social debates where there are always two sides, arguing equally.
The trick was to get us to "be" something, (a liberal or conservative, a Democrat or Republican, a white person or black person, a man or a woman, a Christian or a Muslim) and then to get someone else to be the opposing side of the pair. The result is an America now with its citizens in opposition to one another on every serious issue that warrants our attention. No longer are we in opposition to the real enemies who would conquer us; we are in opposition to ourselves.
So, the question I pose to you, my dear Americans, is not whether or not we are divided. We are. The question is now, are we conquered?
This is what "White King and the Doctor" is about--how they did it, and who they compromised. It is my intention to open the readers' eyes, to let them see something the propagandists want them to miss. And, once Americans see this for themselves, I believe the breach can be healed. And, I believe, then we stand a chance of remaining the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave."
As we remembered Sept. 11, and reflected on that day, I remembered telling my writing partner on Sept. 11, 2001 that America is the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave," and that we were going to have to be very brave in the coming years in order to remain free.
Though I knew the future held so many unknowns as to what that bravery would have to be, there was not one thought in my mind that I would be saying what I am about to say. There was not even the hint of an idea either that I would feel compelled to write the novel, "White King and the Doctor" in order to help keep my country free.
Today-- six years after our lives as we knew them, changed--we are going to have to be brave enough, (some more than others) to admit that we've been "Had." We're going to have to admit that we fell for the oldest military strategy in the world--divide and conquer.
This enemy isn't conquering us by enticing some general into dividing his forces, splitting up his regiment, and thus weakening and exposing them. No, I only wish it had been this conventional, and predictable.
This enemy is doing it through propaganda--using the most skillful Public Relations machine I've ever seen to split us RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE. One only has to look at the political stalemate that has engulfed us over the last 6 years, with Americans supposedly equally divided-- or any of the social debates where there are always two sides, arguing equally.
The trick was to get us to "be" something, (a liberal or conservative, a Democrat or Republican, a white person or black person, a man or a woman, a Christian or a Muslim) and then to get someone else to be the opposing side of the pair. The result is an America now with its citizens in opposition to one another on every serious issue that warrants our attention. No longer are we in opposition to the real enemies who would conquer us; we are in opposition to ourselves.
So, the question I pose to you, my dear Americans, is not whether or not we are divided. We are. The question is now, are we conquered?
This is what "White King and the Doctor" is about--how they did it, and who they compromised. It is my intention to open the readers' eyes, to let them see something the propagandists want them to miss. And, once Americans see this for themselves, I believe the breach can be healed. And, I believe, then we stand a chance of remaining the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave."