There’s one type of American that the liberal left hates more than anyone else. It’s not the supposed racists, bigots, homophobes and misogynists they’re always complaining about. No, the left loves those archetypes so much it has willed them back into existence, an eternal foe to battle against. Their true ire and shame are reserved for those clear-minded American patriots — the type who, welling with benevolence, believe wholeheartedly in America’s founding principles and still tear up at the National Anthem. This patriot has no time for the left’s relativist posturing, but neither does he seek to dominate. He says what needs to be said, does what needs to be done and seeks only to protect what’s his. Indifferent to their sensitivities and neuroses, to this man, politics is not all that complicated.
No one represented this ideal more than country music legend Toby Keith, who passed away Monday after a long battle with stomach cancer. His legacy as America’s most sincerely patriotic musician will live on in his song “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).” Even those who are not fans of country music will remember the post-9/11 anthem that gripped the country and enraged a few. Much to liberal embarrassment, many will still struggle to choke back tears in the opening bars. But the song is a powerful reminder of what America must re-learn today. (RELATED: Toby Keith Dead At 62)
This American was angry, but first and foremost he yearned for solidarity with his fellow countrymen. “American girls and American guys, we’ll always stand up and salute,” the song begins before turning to a cry of grief. “This nation that I love has fallen under attack,” and that “mighty sucker punch” not only killed thousands of Americans but shook our faith in the safety and security of the world we built. We were forced once again to admit that the world was a dangerous place, that the jungle we believed to have tamed had indeed grown back more deadly than before.
America was shaken, we had faltered, but could never be deterred by our despair. “Soon as we could see clearly, through our big black eye,” the song proceeds toward the chorus, a righteous call to arms: “Man, we lit up your world like the Fourth of July.” It is more than just a prayer for deliverance, “that justice will be served and the battle will rage.” It is a pledge for retribution, a promise to all who would harm us that they would come to regret it. Hurt us, and “it’s gonna be hell.” It will feel “like the whole wide world is raining down on you.”
“Brought to you courtesy, of the red, white and blue.”
Of course, for the “America Last” crowd, the song immediately struck a nerve. Set to perform on ABC’s 3-hour patriotism special, the first Fourth of July celebration after 9/11, the network requested Kieth temper the lyrics, to which he refused. The song was said to be too angry, “too controversial” by our media betters. How dare you be so assured in America’s virtue and decency?
“‘Hey, we’re allowed to be angry,” Keith later said in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about the incident. There’s an interesting juxtaposition here: a dispassionate defense of such a passionate plea for justice, retribution, and the “American way.” Yes, we are allowed to be angry that we were wronged; yes, we are allowed to do something about it. How dare you suggest otherwise?
Despite the left’s best attempt at spin, the song does not reflect a jingoistic will to dominate. Neither is it a call to proselytize our values and beliefs. But it is certainly unafraid to say what needs to be done. In the two decades since the song was released, we have collectively lost this concise moral clarity — and left and right are both to blame.
Confident in our national destiny after 9/11, we quickly became disillusioned with the neoconservative overreach — a legacy that has settled into the national conscience and arguably led to an over-correction. To those who contend our role is to spread freedom, democracy and our way of life to the peoples of the world, even when they wholeheartedly reject it, we can now firmly say no. But in this brave new world, we often lose sight of what our truly vital interests are. (RELATED: ‘I’ve Walked Some Dark Hallways’: Toby Keith Opens Up About His Cancer Battle)
The left, of course, takes it all a step further. They demand we view the world through a lens of victim and victimizer, with America as a malevolent force of exploitation and oppression. This too has been internalized, particularly for the younger generation, who are taught a victim framework as gospel truth since birth. And it shows in our collective conscience: Every move we make on the world stage, our leaders implicitly question, “Are we the bad guys here?”
This song reflects a simpler, and perhaps more naive day, before our politicians perverted what it even means to be an American in a dangerous world. It cannot even conceive of a world where these “controversies” could manifest. Its only frame of reference is: Mess with America, and “We’ll put a boot in your ass.”
So on this sad day as we mourn the loss of an American icon and the world seems to crumble around us, remember: American foreign policy should really still be that simple.