George M. Cohan would be 134 years old today. Although I do keep a lot of useless knowledge on tap in my head, this is not an example. I’m addicted to the “on this date” section of the New York Times. I don’t know why, but it fascinates me.
If you’re under 80 and have never seen his statue in Times Square, you’re probably wondering who the hell George M. Cohan was and why you should care. I’m too young to know who he was, but my mom was a fan and I got indoctrinated. Mom used to sing his songs like “Mary’s a Grand Old Name” (lots of Marys in my family), “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “Give my Regards to Broadway” and we watched “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” the old biopic starring James Cagney, whenever it was on TV. I came away knowing far more pre-World War I popular music than I ought to.
In his day, Cohan was an entertainment machine who had his finger firmly on the patriotic pulse of America. Even in commie, pinko, ethnic, progressive New York City, he could bring an audience to their feet cheering with a big closing number featuring unfurling the Stars and Stripes. Of course it was a different age – simpler and in some ways easier.
Cohan seems topical today not only because of his birthday, but because he so represents the “good old days” that the Tea Party and most of the extreme right harken back to so wistfully. When I think about those happy flag wavers cheering and clapping at the end of his hit show “Little Johnny Jones,” I can easily see the scene morph into a GOP rally anywhere in middle America. I’m sure Mike Huckabee would love to have Cohan on his show for a jam session and he’d certainly be welcome on Bill O’Reilly’s show. Forget about the fact that Cohan’s day featured rampant racism, sexism, poverty and xenophobia, when a woman would be “allowed” to work a 60- or 70-hour week but couldn’t vote or buy a diaphragm. America is always the best.
The difference between today’s conservative leaders and Cohan is the level of calculation in their patriotism. In all of the reading I’ve done about him, I’ve never found any reference to Cohan not actually believing the pro-American philosophy he espoused. As great a self-promoter as he was, he waved the flag from the heart. Sure he ignored a lot of the problems that faced the country at the time, but I’ve always felt that it was out of the fundamental belief that America is the best place on earth and would rise above whatever was wrong with it. That’s a major distinction from today’s conservatives who seem to believe that the only thing wrong with the U.S. is anyone who says we aren’t perfect already.
Yet there is at least a slight hint of the current conservative movement in Cohan. He wasn’t above managing facts for his benefit, either. His most successful fabrication was that he was so American, he was born on the Fourth of July. Close but no roman candle. Seems pretty tame compared to the flagrant re-writing of political, economic, scientific and historical facts we see today, though.
I don’t want to disparage Cohan’s talent. He really was one of the greats. I still love some of those old songs. They’re clever and well-written and the tunes and lyrics stay with you long after they’re through playing. I find myself signing or humming them all the time. He was wildly successful as composer, playwright, actor, singer, dancer, director, producer. God, I wish I had a resume like his. In fact, I celebrate his contribution to the country and to the theater. I’d like to see the new breed of conservatives take a lesson and support the country while working on its blemishes rather than shouting down those who disagree with them and pretending that we’ve achieved sufficient greatness that we can coast from here on. We do have a grand old flag and it really would be terrific to see it wave forever. We have to earn that, though. Empty, boastful cheerleading isn’t going to do it.
All that said, I’m going to celebrate the hell out of tomorrow because America is a fantastic place to live. Not perfect, but absolutely fantastic. Yes, George, I too am a Yankee Doodle Dandy.