Wednesday, March 20, 2002
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Wednesday, March 20, 2002 |
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Hamrick's
patriotism more authentic than It was the longest, most intense, most impassioned, most exciting and most controversial political conversation I had ever carried on with one single individual. Dave's untimely death brought it all to an abrupt halt. For 14 years I have been searching for the America of my dreams; America, the Beautiful. I found it plentifully expressed in individual lives; much less, so, however, in the collective aspirations of my host nation. I was looking for Justice and was not impressed; nor did I find Democracy or what Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader, Gerry Spence, Marianne Williamson, or William Greider thought Democracy could look like in a country with a written Constitution and a Bill of Rights. Then, nine months ago, Dave stepped into my life, or, more precisely, I into his, and what began to unfold was an extensive inquiry about American politics. Three months later the tragedy of Sept. 11 happened. The resulting precipitate and harsh response on the part of the U.S. government gave our probe of U.S. foreign policy goals an even greater urgency. Thank God for Dave. After the Fayette County School system was signaling indirectly that it had little interest in a project to discuss American politics with high school students, and newspapers didn't print my opinion, I had Dave to address what I thought was unproductive in the way America deals with the rest of the world and the global environment. Dave did not disappoint me; he was a formidable, engaging, superbly informed, yet disarmingly gentle conversational adversary. Thank you, Dave, for demonstrating to me so convincingly that there are still some Americans who knew what civic engagement meant. In only a few months we exchanged hundreds of e-mails, often 10 and more a day. All politics. Until Dave, no one this side or the other side of the Atlantic had ever managed keeping up with my political passion. Here I had found my ultimate challenger. While I had the luxury of time due to my involuntary sabbatical, Dave often invested an hour and more after work to return my mail. Only now, after he had left us, I realize that I had thrown everything I didn't like about America right in his face. He took it in stride; more than that, he showed an amazing patience and gentleness of the heart. He never became exasperated; he never asked me, like so many others, why I am still here. More than once when I thought I had expressed myself too forcefully, too combatively, I asked him out for a beer to kind of say, I am sorry, Dave. He never turned me down. Dave taught me an immensely valuable lesson: Disagreement is only what it is, Disagreement. There is nothing else to it. No reason to wage war over it. No reason to turn hostile. All merely a matter of individual perspective. Dave was the first American I encountered since coming to this country who fully and passionately engaged in political conversation regardless how controversial the issue, how time-consuming to explore it. Dave embodied the best America has to offer to the world. To me, his patriotism was more impressive, authentic, and beautiful than a thousand flags could ever express. Thank you, Dave, for the privilege of your friendship, a gift from Heaven in my struggle to adjust to my new country. There are no words to express the gratitude I feel for your support, tolerance, and graciousness. I am already missing you dearly.... Dr. Günther Rückl Peachtree City
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