How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
This is the undeniable big-time, there is no greater sports event in the world today and Bravo is smack in the frothy middle of it. In two days they will redeploy for Iraq and the remaining eleven months of their extended tour, but for now they are deep within the sheltering womb of all things American—football, Thanksgiving, television, about eight different kinds of police and security personnel, plus three hundred million well-wishing fellow citizens. Or, as one trembly old guy in Cleveland put it, "Yew ARE America." (Cures.5)
We love it when Ben Fountain writes the dialogue phonetically, because it just makes these particular patriots seem so real in their absurdity.
Quote #2
There's something harsh in his fellow Americans, avid, ecstatic, a burning that comes of the deepest need. That's his sense of it, they all need something from him, this pack of half-rich lawyers, dentists, soccer moms, and corporate VPs, they're all gnashing for a piece of a barely grown grunt making $14,800 a year. For these adult, affluent people he is mere petty cash in their personal accounting, yet they lose it when they enter his personal space. They tremble. They breathe in fitful, stinky huffs. Their eyes skitz and quiver with the force of the moment, because here, finally, up close and personal, is the war made flesh, an actual point of contact after all the months and years of reading about the war, watching the war on TV, hearing the war flogged and flacked on talk radio. (Human Response.35)
Unlike wars in the past, some of which invaded our backyards and left visible reminders of the terrors implicit in conflict, Americans are scarily removed from the War on Terror. It's true: the vast majority of people have only seen what the media wants them to see about the war (if that, even), and this leaves people with a false sense of security that threatens to shatter when they encounter people like Billy.
Quote #3
"Okay look, how about this for politics. My guys are heroes, right? Americans, right? They're unequivocally on the right side and they also unequivocally kicked ass, now when was the last time that happened for this country? There's your politics, Lar, it's all about feeling good about America again. Think Rocky meets Platoon and you're on the right track." (Virtue.39)
Why do we need to feel always good about America? Would it hurt us to have a healthy dose of skepticism about our nation and what we do in its name? Why do certain forms of patriotism tell us that any kind of questioning or independent thought is bad?