Don Lago

Mything in Action: American Identity Lost and Searched for in the 2004 Election Don Lago

There are times when nations are no longer sure of what they are and what their purpose is, and for America 2004 was such a time. For 200 years America was the hope and role model of the democratic world, but now America is failing in this role. The national myths-the stories, heroes, self-images, and social values-that have guided America from the beginning are now misleading and failing us. Our heroic self-image tricked us into disasters in Vietnam and Iraq. Our frontier experience has left us refusing to face environmental limits. Our individualistic values have left us unwilling to care about one another as a people. Basic questions of national identity ran strong in the 2004 presidential campaign. Mything in Action uses the campaign to explore America's guiding myths in action in the most iconic places in the American imagination: Lexington and Concord on the 4th of July, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, a Mark Twain riverboat town, a Wild West town, and John Wayne's hometown. Mything in Action is a unique, literary exploration of American history, culture, and politics, offering a deeper analysis of America's difficulties than the usual partisan polemics.