Thanks, Doug--I really appreciated this and, as always, regard with some
kind of wonder your ability to keep an evenhanded, openminded perspective on
everything. It's certainly hard for me, and I couldn't help imagining the
guffaws that probably greeted Fred's nice post calling me a "peacemaker." As
I told him when I back-channeled my thanks, it was one to put up on the wall
and not just because it would probably remain unique for me, but also as a
reminder of how far short of it I fall on a daily basis. David's assuring us
that he wasn't lapsing into nationalism also prodded me to remember how
often in the past I'd used my Irishness as an alibi for intemperate (pun
intended) words, until I found myself on lists with such grand folks as
Randolph, Trevor, and Mairead, among others, who made any such Irish
self-alibiing look as small, mean, and self-indulgent as it was on my part,
not to mention the self-stereotyping that I hadn't even been aware of. As
platitudinous as it will sound, I've never felt more strongly than since
Sept 11 how much better we all are for the others we get to know on these
lists--and how good it is for all of us to see ourselves, personally and in
wider terms, through each other's eyes.

And, believe me, we also have our problems with the way the U.S. comports
itself internationally _inside_ its borders, but with the painfully
ambiguating effect of the WTC attacks to wrestle with as well. It's no
excuse, by any means, but it is a reason for counter-aggression that the
other countries rushing to contribute their missiles to our own lack, and I
can't help but sympathize with the American civilian population who view it
as reason enough, even though I can't agree with them. Those divisions among
us as Americans haven't been so deeply felt since Vietnam, which is also,
paradoxically, the model of successful dissent and the nightmarish reminder
of how long it can take for that dissent to win the day. It's a very complex
and conflicted moment in our history, which is no longer separable from the
rest of the world's moment and history, although when I read posts by David
or Lawrence or others "from away" (as they say in my homestate of NH), I
hardly recognize the simplicity of the country--the empire, rather--they
depict. A bit more humility on all our parts would seem to be called for as
well.

Thanks again--Candice

> Candice
>
> that was such a 'nice' long post. Thanks for thinking through what a lot of
> us are trying to: that we all need to cut each other some slack, & try to
> listen as carefully as possible.
>
> And I admit, outside US borders, 'we' do have our problems dealing with all
> that power, especially when  it's manifest(ed)...
>
> Doug
>
> Douglas Barbour
> Department of English
> University of Alberta
> Edmonton Alberta Canada T6G 2E5
> (h) [780] 436 3320      (b) [780] 492 0521
> http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
>
>       I can always
>       go back to
>       fertilization,
>       kimonos, wrap-
>       arounds and
>       diatribes.
>               Lorine Niedecker