Re: Camelot Post

Sometimes my brain makes a connection that I don't understand at the time. Yesterday's post was one of them. The words to the song Camelot kept weaving though the images that were streaming through my mind. After I finished writing my post I wondered what it meant. Why the song Camelot? Does it represent my loss of faith in my own country? What is Camelot- the city of New Orleans? Who is singing it- me or the people of New Orleans?

This morning when I woke-up I had my answers. First, the song Camelot is from the successful Broadway musical of the same name. It is based on the tale of King Arthur and the knights of the round table. Camelot is the name of the Arthur's mythical kingdom. A kingdom of utter perfection as Arthur tells us in the song Camelot. The irony is that Arthur does not know his perfect kingdom is an illusion about to come to an end.

So what does Camelot represent in my post? My country and the clash between who we think we are and the reality of what we are. We think we are a country that can do no wrong. We think we are a country that can save the world. We think we are a country that can handle anything throw at it. We think we are a country that is just in its dealings with people less fortunate than ourselves. We think we are a country that always does what is right. Well, we do, we can't, we aren't, and we don't. We are so busy believing in the myth of America we no longer see the reality of it. We strive for these things that we believe about America and Americans but we will never become those things until we admit what is wrong. The reality of who and what we are doesn't even come close the myth we have created. Camelot is the myth. New Orleans is the reality. An intensified reality but reality none the less.

Who is singing Camelot? Is it me or the people of New Orleans? Surprise, its none of us. Now that I remember who sang it in the musical I see why this song popped into my head. I hear President Bush singing those lyrics over those shocking images. Bush is the biggest believer in the American myth. He and his people are the ones who think image (illusion) is far more important than reality. There he was yesterday walking around in psudo-workclothes with his shirt sleeves rolled-up. The message he was sending? Hi, my name is George Bush. I am your president and I'm ready to get to work! The message I received? Hi, my name is George Bush. I'm not a real president but I play one on TV. Where the hell was he five days ago?

Now, I am not saying Americans don't step up to the plate when disaster strikes. We do, as all the money, people, and supplies heading to the hurricane disaster area show. We do and so does the rest of the world as we have heard on the news broadcasts. I am surprised by just who has offered to send us help, money, supplies and I thank them. We are great in a crisis but after the crisis is over we seem to walk away thinking that we have again shown we are a country that can only do good. Not once does anyone think to ask our government if something we did or didn't do helped to create the crisis in the first place.

As you can tell I am still angry about what has happened in New Orleans. I see now that it is partly because I too believed somewhat in the American myth. I think as I sit and watch the reports on television, How can this be happening in America? I feel shame. I feel rage. I feel sadness. I feel frustration. I feel hopelessness. I just don't understand how we reached this point or why.

Today I am going to try and find comfort in this Zen saying :

If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.

Note: I've tweaked this post since I first posted it to fix spelling mistakes and make some things clearer.