The Pink Flamingo :: American History 101 - The Legends Series (Palin Fits the Mold)

I was watching a show about the Wild West the other night. One of the leading scholars of the era was discussing how we have a need for larger than life characters here in America. We Americans need heroes - men and women - who reflect the character of our nation. Our heroes are men and women big enough to tame the Big Country. If they did not exist, we would invent them.

We did invent a few characters like Paul Bunyan. We expounded on the life of Johnny Appleseed, and turned Abraham Lincoln into something only Frank Capra could invent. Our heroes must reflect the times in which both we and they lived. They must also be individuals so remarkable the transcend the space time continuum and make a statement about the American Character.

The United States of America is a nation of rugged individuals. How else could such a vast and dangerous land be tamed? Our American legends were and are strong. They were and are people of honor, who even in defeat, never gave up. They refused to surrender to fate. They persevered.

Have you heard the one about the silversmith who alerted his world that the British were coming. And, who would have thought that a womanizing word-smith who allegedly tried flying a kite into an electrical storm would end up with his face on my favorite denomination of money?

There is the lesson of the tall, red-headed, stalwart and handsome young officer who was most likely responsible for one of the most humiliating military defeats in this nation's history. He turned abject failure and defeat into remarkable heroism. Proclaimed a hero by one and all except for the press and a few additional critics he lived under the shadow of failure. When his nation needed him, he strode strong, tall, confident and took command, putting an end to the gossip and rumors of failure. Today he is simply knows as the Father of His Country, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.

Lewis and Clark were flawed men who lived an exploratory trek so risky and so dangerous they became legends. They encountered a beautiful and brave young mother who risked her safety to lead them to the Pacific Ocean. The two men ended their days in scandal and suicide, but Sacagawea is untarnished and unsurpassed in the history of the awakening land.

Lewis and Clark were followed by Daniel Boone who explored the vast wilderness of Kentucky and Tennessee, finally ending his days in Missouri of all places. The vast wilderness was coming alive with the sounds of settlers, their horses, wagons, laughter and tears. Daniel Boone was soon followed by Kit Carson, Jedediah Smith. and Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. They were strong, uncompromising, rash, brave, and just crazy enough to help tame a dangerous and wild new country.

Even the outlaws who came after the Civil War were larger than life. The James and Younger Gangs invented a new way to make money. They staged the first train robberies in history. Sam Bass turned the crime into an art form. Jessie James cemented his reputation as the American Robin Hood by helping many a man or women who were down on their luck, only to end his days shot in his home, by a craven coward.

The lawmen who went after them, the likes of Wild Bill Picklock, Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp, the greatest of them all, are still household names. These were men strong enough, and without personal fear. The shadow of the Earps, Doc Holiday and the gunfight at the OK Corral is ingrained on our American psyche.

As the world changed and inventions and technology brought the railroad and telegraph, the world would never be the same. Along with those inventions came electric lights, telephones, phonographs, and a newfangled technology that forever changed the way Americans looked at their nation. Motion Picture heroes soon took their place on the American stage, men like Tom Mix and William S. Hart looked to the heroes of yester-year to flesh in their moving pictures. Tom Mix and John Ford would often play poker on the back lots at Republic with the great Wyatt Earp. Mix and Ford were taking an interest in a young football player for Southern Cal and hired him as a wrangler to work the silent films to keep him from return home to Iowa. Marion Robert Morrison adopted Wyatt Earp's way of talking and walking. He wanted to go into pictures, but John Ford made him change his name.

John Wayne

The Babe began a home-run binge that would be unmatched for decades. He made baseball into the American Game. Charles Lindbergh and Jimmy Stewart changed aviation history. Amelia Earhart showed the world that a chick could fly in a man's world. Clark Gable broke many hearts but really didn't give a damn after his beloved Carol Lombard died in a plane crash. She was off selling war bonds to help the US win World War II.

John Wayne won World War II for us. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. A kid from the outback of Mississippi went to Memphis and finally found someone to cut a demo record. America was chewing up and spitting out legends as fast as they could appear. A tired woman refused to sit on the back of a bus, even though she was the wrong race to sit in the front of the vehicle. Her cause was celebrated by a minister from Atlanta who, along with John & Bobby gave his all for his country.

Mickey, Willie and the Duke!

Henry Aaron bore his moment of glory with silent courage never backing down from threats of death. And, a worn-out cowboy movie star from California decided he knew how to change America.

He did.

That is the character of America. It is small towns, hot dogs, baseball, and an occasional apple pie. It is the crack of a bat when a ball slams off it. It is the sound of a ball smacking a leather glove. It is the roar of the crowd when the ball connects with the bat and sails into eternity. It is rock and roll. It is the smell of car exhaust and the loud black hot noise of a track full of cars. America is a little white church full of God-fearing people who don't just go on Easter or Christmas Eve. It is a nation where people hold hands and pray and brave young people volunteer to give their very lives for freedom.

This is America. It is a stage for everyday men and women to become legends in their own time by helping out when a neighbor is in trouble, or volunteering to coach little league. It is dancing lessons and little boys trying to duck piano practice to go out and play football. It is the smell of burning leaves in the fall and the rank odor of a rotting undiscovered Easter egg in the spring.

It is a land that is huge and still quite untamed in places. There are still vast acres of wilderness, forests, and hidden canyons. There are mountains waiting to be climbed and glaciers to be hiked. It is the mysterious desert and rumors of spooky UFOs and little green men.

A new legend is preparing to step into the American psyche. While the world was awaiting the return of that great old cowboy from California, it did not realize The Next One would be wearing lipstick and Funkie Monkey shoes.

Dime con quien andas y te digo quien eres.

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