10/28/98

Like the guy who habitually banged his head against the wall because it felt so good when it stopped, I have lived the past quarter-century in-----what is erroneously called-----the Third World.

The Third World is actually the first world in population and area, though lowest at the bottom of the economic heap. The joy of homecoming is not because we're wealthier than Thailand, Laos, Hungary or Romania. It's because America has that sense of openness, fairness and tolerance in which my last places of residence were sadly deficient.

After 25 years of living in countries where corruption is the norm, where ruling is by fear (or its counterpart, religious legitimacy), and where free speech is by and for nice law-abiding citizens, not the "underclass," I've come home. And modestly understanding America in a different way because of the unusual places where I've lived and traveled.

Before indulging in a passion for politics, I over-indulged in the usuals: bagels and movies and concerts and bookstores. And then I tried what hadn't existed when I had left: Talk Radio and Talk Television. And suddenly I have found myself in America's nightmare. Which is the nightmare of knee-jerk phrases.

Unexpectedly, words which used to refer to the insidious Commies now have another target. The reality is that Bill Clinton is a well-meaning, street-smart, intelligent and highly flawed individual. And let us praise him for having flaws. French philosophers and Japanese gardeners well know that a lack of flaws is a lack of character. And Bill Clinton has character.

Instead of character, though, these pundits and politicos toss out the same words we used to use for Commie Atheists. "Deception," "mendacity," "immoral", "amoral", "mentally unfit," "sick" are commonplaces. I once even heard on a major radio station the word "treason."

I am not an America Firster, am convinced that kids should make their own Net decisions without filters, and yes, I believe deeply in the American right to burn the American flag. So naturally, if the media wants to cover the country with their sexual and legal minutia, this is their right.

At this point, though, like so many who have lived here longer than myself, issues of merit, ideas for the Millenium, challenges and honest questions about our place in history and the world has been turned into-----dare I say it?-----a kind of giggly Third World scandal.

Sincerely,