It seems at times that America’s political system is a contest about who can be the cruelest, crudest, most exploitive, or hungriest for money or power.
Our political system has been exposed; it is corrupted by billionaires, bigots, haters, wannabe fascists, conspiracy theorists, gun-loving nationalists, seditionists, and liars. The opposition is also flawed in many different ways.
Who can blame them for thinking their leaders no longer care for them, especially when there’s big money involved?
The Queen is worth studying because so many people had just the opposite feeling about her. And she has plenty of money.
No wonder we are such a mess. Very few of our best people are not going near politics for many good reasons, and compassion, truth, and honor are being overwhelmed and overrun by the worst and cruelest of us.
People are so angry they seem to be lashing out at false prophets and substituting death threats for civil politics.
In all of my lengthening life, I never saw a public figure sainted and celebrated all over the world in the way Queen Elizabeth was between the time she died and her funeral this morning, which I got up at 5 a.m. to watch. I never thought that much about her, and I was stunned by how much people loved and admired her worldwide.
I never imagined a monarch, a symbol of a long outdated system, could be so loved in a raucous democratic nation.
I know no American political leader could come close to triggering mourning and thanks as she did.
By the funeral’s end, I was one of her fans and admirers. This was confusing to me and still is.
From the first, I was somewhat overwhelmed by what I saw when she died – so much gratitude, love, and respect for a public figure who had decades to make mistakes and get caught in scandals and stumble and never really did. I never saw anything like it.
She was a remarkable leader, and I gather a great monarch, although I am no expert on the monarchy.
She managed to unite a country almost as divided as ours and hold its sense of common purpose and the value of tradition together.
The British mourning of their Queen got me thinking, though; I’m trying to sort out whether she marks the end of an era or the beginning of a new on
I was mesmerized by how much decency, honesty, and honor still mean to people in this country and much of the world. Half of Great Britain came out to stand in the cold, wait in line for hours, weep, bow to her, and toss flowers as she passed by in her coffin.
There was hardly a discordant note.
And nobody needed to come to the Abby sporting assault rifles and guns on their hips to scare people. Most of the police didn’t need weapons either.
The choice for me, as it always is, is this the end of something or the beginning?
I think it could be a beginning. People have accused me of writing through rose-colored glasses (I take that as a compliment), but I do trust what I see. And what I saw was extraordinary and transformative.
The Ukraine war has awakened people to what it means to love democracy and fight for it. That is something we have lost touch with in America. The democracies are hanging in there to fight tyranny, as they are supposed to do.
And the Queen has demonstrated – to my welcome surprise – that decency, duty, compassion, and empathy are still valued in England and worldwide. How else to account for all of the adoration and gratitude?
I encounter this daily with the student refugee community during my work with the Army Of Good in the Mansion and Bishop Gibbons High School. I know many good people want to do well, given a chance. They have compassion; they have empathy. They always come through.
Many people in this country, as in many countries, still value compassion, empathy, and integrity and respond to the ancient and dprofoundlyreligious call to help the needy and the vulnerable seriously. I hear from them every day, but few people have that opportunity.
There is hardly ever any good news on the news. It’s not as profitable as bad news.
So I take hope from the Queen, her life, honor, and compassion.
Millions of Americans, including many friends, watched every minute of the funeral proceedings. I have this eerie sense that we are awakening to democracy and the need to fight for it, and hopefully, we don’t need to shed blood and suffer as so many Ukrainians have to keep it.
So thanks, Elizabeth, for giving me a lesson in compassion and duty, and thanks as well for leaving me with hope for the future. That’s what I take away from the funeral of the Queen.
I did the same thing….watched for hours and was left with much the same sentiment. I never paid much attention to the monarchy, but was mesmerized by the outpouring of grief, love and respect over the last several days for this remarkable woman. People waited for hours to view her……this went on for days with no reports of any discontent among the public. I can’t think of anyone else living today who could command such an audience upon their passing. The people of Great Britain truly showed the world how they felt about their Queen by treating their countrymen with the same respect that Queen Elizabeth had shown over her 70 year reign.
God save the King…..
The only time I have ever seen any outpouring like this was the three days after President Kennedy was assassinated.
Jon, there has to be something about the Monarchy that holds Britain’s attention and admiration. Thank you for pointing out that no-one brought guns, the police weren’t challenged to keep the crowds orderly, no-one was protesting. yes, the British know how to put on a good show, that’s for sure, but people telling you your reporting is through rose-coloured glasses, well, let me tell you I read your blog the last thing at night before I go to bed because you’ve always got something uplifting on it. I’m fed up with all the criticism coming out of US people on the internet, and likely Canada too, except I’m not exposed to it. Your blog is inspiring, humourous, real and well, as honest as you can make it and when you can’t you admit it…mostly it’s about yourself. Thanks for tonight’s uplifting report. I watched a good part of the funeral myself today.
Sandy Proudfoot, Canada
Jon…
I wouldn’t confuse England with the US. England has a history dating to the 800s, mostly under monarchies. I wonder what wisdom a country gains through such an existence. England has had its rough spots, including a civil war and the execution of one monarch. But it righted itself.
True, but many of our customs, traditions, constitutional considerations and even architecture reflects England. There is England in every Eastern city in America except Florida. We are not the same countries, but there are many cultural connections. The funeral was watch by millions of American all over the country.
The Queen’s funeral coverage felt as if I was watching a fairytale. Peace and all good resulting in a kingdom under the reign of a great woman. It was a refreshing change of pace from the bile the media spills out daily about goings on in USA. Especially so since the fairytale wasn’t fiction.
Having left England as a child, I never expected to be so touched by the Queen’s passing and particularly her funeral. I am a bit confused by it. I shall never forget the images of all those soldiers marching purposefully, so precisely, so determined, so proud. I was very touched (of course) by the Queen’s little horse Emma, standing with her groom beside the road at Windsor as the hearse drove by and I was touched by the sadness on King Charles face as he placed the camp flag on her coffin moments before the lone piper began his lament. How could one not be affected?
Too many Americans are proud of their very narrow history of “rugged individualism” that was so developed and admire at the beginning of our existence as a country. That makes us stupid still in these modern times, with people thinking they have the absolute right to guns, of absolute free speech, you name it, not wearing masks and ignoring the common good. When I was in Europe most of those countries I visited or lived in showed more respect for people one-to-one (and were offended by “American individualism” like going to a dinner party, a SOCIAL event, where the American wants to argue about everything.).
I don’t respect everything the monarchy did, the status system is a yoke we tried to overthrow but it haunted us in many way to our detriment, their treatment of other colonies (Ireland, …), the way our POWs were treated compared to the British’s, but the Queen modeled a quiet, calm effort to keep her family and country intact and positive, and gives us a model of how thoughtfully to engage and disagree with others. Her tone was thoughtful, respectful, charitable, and clear. We should keep this model in mind before we talk or write.