'No More Heroes, No More Patriots'

Brooke Shelby Biggs observes today,

I think of what the right-wing wonks said when John Walker Lindh was captured. They spoke of a "moral relativism" which created an American boy who would travel across the world to take up arms against his own country. But what of the moral relativism today, which values the lives of firefighters (who also were only doing their jobs, hardly battling terrorism with water hoses) and a small number of civilians who may or may not have had the opportunity to act bravely and to tell their wives of their plans, over the lives of people vaporized at their desks? Is Todd Beamer really more of an American hero than some nameless person on the 101st floor of Tower 2 who tried to help a coworker, but ended up dead anyway? Is the fact that person didn't pick up his cell phone to tell his wife of his plans make him less heroic?

This whole American hero-worship epidemic is offensive, especially today. I am offended that the media and my government believe that I need heroes to make the tragedy feel better. I am offended that I am asked to sing national anthems and salute the flag and honor "patriots" when no one who died on September 11 died in defense of America. I am offended on behalf of the dead that their memory is being perverted into an illogical, un-American cry for an open-ended war on an indeterminate enemy.

Related comments here.