America, The Beautiful

I Have Decided To "Stick With Love"...of Country

Mea culpa, dear reader—it’s been several weeks since my last essay. I returned to New York in December from an acting job in Florida, just in time to be swept up in holiday activity. Promptly after New Year’s, I left to begin another theatre project here in wintry Ohio. The latter is proving to be a truly illuminating learning experience for me, which I intend to share in a future piece here at The Cornfield.

O Beautiful, for Spacious Skies…

It’s Inauguration Day. A new year has begun, and shortly, a new administration will take power in America—a new administration peopled with a lot of old faces, as Donald Trump takes on a second term as the 47th President. On the right, there is much rejoicing, crowing, and a plentiful amount of gloating. On the left, there’s much wailing, catastrophizing and spite. The actor in me cannot help but empathize with all of these reactions, which are, after all, human, and to be expected after the past five dark years and a contentious and vitriolic campaign.

As always here at The Cornfield, I train my attention on the behavior of those left of center members of our society, as I consider myself—in the words of John McWhorter—a “cranky liberal Democrat” of the old school. If you’ve been following my work here since March of 2023, you will have gathered that, like many other cranky traditional liberals, I’ve recoiled from the authoritarian wave of activist leftism in our politics and culture: chiefly the entrenchment of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion)—the bureaucratic, neo-racist, neo-Marxist critical social justice movement that Trojan-horsed its way into every corner and institution of American society during the covid hysteria and the rise of BLM—doing real damage to the arts, where I’ve spent my entire life and professional career. I’ve been appalled and angered by the gaslighting, the oppressive cancel culture; the censorship and manipulation of language; and the indoctrination of kids using principles of critical race theory, queer theory and other divisive ideologies to narrow their minds in the name of diversity. As a Jew, I’ve been horrified by the radicalization of college students who we’ve seen championing Hamas and other terror organizations and resurrecting the dark specter of antisemitism. I’ve been critical of left wing pundits and others flinging about terms like “fascist” and “Nazi” during the Presidential campaign with careless disregard for the feelings and sensibilities of those who themselves survived fascist and Nazi oppression, or lost family to it—and I wrote about it here on Substack.

I find I have little patience or sympathy for the hysterical and nasty spirited memes making the rounds on social media since Trump’s re-election, which I see daily in my feed; as a theatre person, you can imagine that most of my Facebook “hive” is very, very blue—and some are not just blue, they’re in despair. This they express by lashing out, either with dark prognostications of doom, or through the use of mean-spirited snark. I understand that most of these friends are not, as I am, heterodox in their thinking—willing to listen to centrist or even conservative views and voices. Consequently, their view of things, and their emotions, are prey to the steady diet of left wing commentary and vitriol fed to them by their algorithms. This should not in any way imply that I feel superior to these friends for being a bit more open minded, and grazing, as it were, in foreign intellectual pastures. But it sure has done wonders for my blood pressure.

Carrie Underwood

Of the memes making the rounds on social media in recent weeks, I’ve been particularly irked by the ridicule and vilification of 8-time Grammy Award-winning country music star Carrie Underwood, for agreeing to perform “America, The Beautiful” today at the inauguration ceremony. I find this especially ugly coming from creative artists toward one of our own. Ms. Underwood is a singer, not a politician. I wrote at length during the campaign, criticizing the misguided tendency in our culture to give undue credence and power to the political pronouncements and endorsements of celebrities. From what I’ve read of Underwood’s public statements about the invitation to perform at the ceremony, she’s expressed her love of America and the honor she feels for the opportunity to sing on this important occasion. She’s made a point of being apolitical in her public discourse—although she’s actually been a bit sassy and satirical about Trump herself. In 2017, as co-host of the CMAs, Underwood and Brad Paisley performed a parody of “Before He Cheats,” reworked as a send-up of Trump’s chaotic social media posts, “Before He Tweets:”

And it’s fun to watch, yeah, that’s for sure / ’Til little “Rocket Man” starts a nuclear war / Maybe next time, he’ll think before he tweets!

Much of the scorn being directed at Underwood calls her out for perceived hypocrisy: the singer who built her career on the song “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” performing on behalf of a “rapist” and “convicted felon.” The shrews of The View assigned mercenary motives to Ms. Underwood, implying that she not only betrayed her religious faith, but did it for money. It’s interesting that they’ve been mostly silent on the vast sums accepted by Oprah Winfrey and Beyoncé from the Harris/Walz campaign for their endorsements and special appearances—and “Queen Bey” didn’t even sing for her supper. Such mud slinging is crass and unbecoming, but Underwood’s responses have been graceful and levelheaded. “I try to stay far out of politics if possible, at least in public, because nobody wins,” she said in an interview with The Guardian, adding: “It’s crazy. Everybody tries to sum everything up and put a bow on it, like it’s black and white. And it’s not like that.”

It’s fairly clear to me that much of the anti-Carrie social media pile-on is tinged with disdain for those perceived to be her fans; you know, those redneck, gun-toting, bible-thumping hillbillies—the evil, racist MAGA half of the country that voted in Orange Hitler. The prejudice is out in the open—with a bow on it—for all to see. There’s no doubt, of course, that the appearance of Underwood at the ceremony today will appeal to much of Trump’s base, who are probably country fans—although I admit that even that statement points to a certain bias on my part.

Jennifer Lopez at President Biden’s Inauguration, 2021

It’s interesting that the last time “America, The Beautiful” was performed at an inauguration it was for President Biden; feelingly rendered by Jennifer Lopez, in a medley with Woody Guthrie’s classic folk song, “This Land is Your Land.” A woman of color and proud New Yorker sang of “God’s grace” and added, in Spanish, words from the Pledge of Allegiance: Una nación, bajo Dios, indivisible, con libertad y justicia para todos. This elicited tears and emotion from many in the Spanish-speaking world and beyond, but the words are the same in English—One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The supreme deity is part of the Pledge as well as the lyrics of “America, The Beautiful.” I am not offended by this invocation. It’s telling to me, however, that while Lopez was praised for her faith and patriotism, Underwood will be accused of religious hypocrisy, and her Christian faith—shared by many who will hear her sing today—will be reduced by some ill-wishers to country fried, hillbilly white supremacy. And that’s not only wrong, it’s ugly, unworthy and bigoted. “I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event,” Underwood wrote in a statement. “I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future,” she added. I agree with her—unity is what is needed in America, more than ever—but there won’t be much, if any, on display in our nation’s capitol today.

Let’s take a look at the origins of the song “America, The Beautiful.” I find its history fascinating and some of my left-leaning friends might, too. Its tune, “Materna,” was composed by church organist Samuel A. Ward in 1882, intended as a setting for the hymn, “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem,” which was published ten years later. This is where it gets interesting. Ward’s tune was used in 1903, after his death, as the setting for an 1895 poem by Katharine Lee Bates, America. Bates is a brilliant and fascinating figure. Born in my home state of Massachusetts just before the Civil War, Bates was a dedicated scholar, who received her education at Wellesley College, eventually becoming a professor there, pioneering the study of American Literature. She was a passionate advocate for social reform and the rights of women, workers, immigrants and people of color. She broke with the Republican Party in 1924 over their rejection of the League of Nations, a cause she championed. Bates lived for years with her companion, Katharine Coman, with whom many historians believe she shared a loving lesbian relationship. Ms. Bates was quite the progressive lady.

Katharine Lee Bates, right, and her companion Katharine Coman

Bates wrote the poem that would become the lyrics to “America, The Beautiful” during a teaching sabbatical in Colorado in 1893. She jotted it in a notebook during a visit to Pike’s Peak, remembering the moment in her memoirs years later:

One day some of the other teachers and I decided to go on a trip to 14,000-foot Pike’s Peak. We hired a prairie wagon. Near the top we had to leave the wagon and go the rest of the way on mules. I was very tired. But when I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse.

Bates’s spirit took flight when she surveyed the natural beauty of America, bringing renewed vigor to her pursuit of equality, freedom and egalitarianism in the land she loved. Her words were set to Samuel A. Ward’s tune, and performed for the first time by the 26th Infantry (“Yankee”) Division of the U.S. Army on November 11, 1918, on the occasion of the Armistice at the end of The Great War. A powerful achievement for a lesbian scholar from Massachusetts, born before the Civil War and energized by the change that swept America in its wake; a dedicated Republican whose convictions inspired her to turn Democrat; an advocate for the rights of the disadvantaged and marginalized. This was the woman who penned the lyrics that Carrie Underwood will sing today in Washington, D.C.; the same anthem sung in the same place by Latina American Jennifer Lopez four years ago; the patriotic hymn that the great Ray Charles interpreted in what may be the most immortal rendition. All this strikes me as quintessentially American.

Today is not only Inauguration Day, it is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Dr. King preached freedom and equality from a place of non-violence, faith and love. When I observe my angry friends working out their perhaps justifiable rage and frustration via publicly bashing and shaming a country singer, I feel empathy—but I cannot join in. After the past five years of division, riots, fear, lockdown; in the wake of the most devastating losses of my life—health crises, bankruptcy, the death of my beloved mother, three years of unemployment due to the shutting down of live theatre, the work which gives my life purpose and meaning—I cannot remain in a place of stress and anger for the next four years. And I won’t. In the words of Dr. King: “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” At the end of the day, I am an American. I could never be the person I am, doing the work I do, living the life I live, anywhere else on earth.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!