Truth, Justice and the American Whatever [Lileks]:
I love Lileks!

Outrage of the summer: The new 'Superman' movie edited out 'The American Way' from the Krypton immigrant's rally cry. The Daily Planet editor says Supe's now all about 'Truth, Justice and all that stuff.'

Makes perfect sense. Consider the foreign markets, where 'the American Way' means Abu Ghraib and McDonald's. Don't remind them! They might burn the theater. (If that's their way.) Besides, it makes sense to have a newspaper editor treat the line with gruff dismissal, since hard-bitten editors don't get starry-eyed over patriotic hogwash. Except when discussing the people's right to know the GPS coordinates of Superman's secret fort.

As it turns out, however, the omission was intentional. 'The American Way' sounds Krypto-fascist. The movie's authors are the usual moderns, serenely above rude jingo pride:

'We were always hesitant to include the term `American way' because the meaning of that today is somewhat uncertain,' said co-writer Michael Dougherty. 'I think when people say `American way,' they're actually talking about what the `American way' meant back in the '40s and '50s, which was something more noble and idealistic.'

Ah. Of course. Well, in the '40s, the American Way included incinerating German cities, nuking Japan, installing occupying armies with remnants to this day, and imposing our form of government -- all the while referring to the enemy with hurtful ethnic slurs. All this plus forced relocation. If these actions are deemed noble and idealistic now, it'll be a handy sentiment the next time the U.S. gears up for total war.

But the inconstant left doesn't believe any of this is permissible in the service of a noble goal. The right, after all, can't lead the war on terror because they don't 'walk the walk' on human rights: witness those POWs slaving away in the cane fields of Gitmo. Unless we lead by example, no one will choose the American Way. Never mind that the internment of the Japanese didn't keep the Germans -- or the Japanese, for that matter -- from following our example after World War II. (Note to the dense: The above is not an endorsement of internment. Just a reminder of which party has more practice.)

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