I just wondered if any one else noticed the irony of the opening ceremony for the Rose Parade.
I've been thinking and writing lately about human nature, so those who have been following my posts will know that I tend to have a high opinion of our species.
Still, it seemed a bit odd to me that the last notes of the opening performance—a song celebrating the good nature of humans—had not even died out, before a stealth bomber buzzed the crowd, in a loud and impressive demonstration of—what?
Our advanced position as a country in the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those people who thinks that it's bad for our country to have a well-equipped and well-trained military. I was furious when I first learned that we were sending soldiers over to Iraq without the proper equipment. I can even understand the need for a stealth bomber.
What I find ironic is the idea that a display of military might should be juxtaposed on the Rose Parade—a celebration of the peaceful art of flower arranging.
And I find it particularly ironic that it should come, as it did, directly on top of an enthusiastic song about the goodness of human nature.
I believe in that goodness, but it is also quite clear that we have been confused, for some time, about how to implement it without killing innocent people.
And I can't help but wonder whether the kind of game playing with symbols we witnessed New Year's morning—flowers, attractive young people dancing, singing about human goodness, and the thrill and roar of an armed and fully operational deathst—sorry, stealth bomber—whether that kind of game playing isn't part of the reason we have gotten so confused.
At least, that's what I think today.
