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A Patriots-Bears game at Gillette Stadium was as good a way to end the Thanksgiving holiday as I can imagine. My 21-year-old stepson Ben, at school in Durango, Colorado, declares he may be Durango's only Pats fan out there in the heart of Broncoland—hence I felt the need to deliver a Pats victory for him to take home, or at least a good seat. We got the good seat and the victory in the first visit to spectacular Gillette Stadium for either of us. It was a sloppy game (lots of turnovers), but most games between excellent teams are "sloppy," which is an inevitable product of the best playing each other as hard as is humanly possible.
Only two things marred the game for me. Fact is, I'd sworn I'd never go to Gillette after the P&G acquisition of the local company. In my opinion, local bias aside, it was yet another totally unnecessary business combination—accomplished primarily because the Gillette CEO won a $165,000,000 personal prize for selling the company. (Mr Kilts gained defining infamy in my book by subsequently threatening Boston with post-acquisition job losses because the local-Boston press had the temerity to wonder whether his personal gain had been on the high side.) But I gave in ... for Ben's sake.
The other dark cloud was a bit more abstract and a lot more mood dampening. When the Pats score at home, a few guys in the endzone in colonial-patriot uniforms fire a volley skyward with copies of period rifles. Good fun! Except those damn guys dressed in their reproduction garb got me thinking about the original ragtag gang at Lexington and Concord. Their unlikely heroics were an essential part of the founding episodes of a nation that had not only come to be an imposing power, but more important, a matchless beacon of liberty and justice around the world. "Little" episodes, we learn these days, can deliver a roundhouse punch to a brand image patiently constructed over decades. As the news from Iraq goes from bad to worse by the day, it would seem clear to me that our misadventure in that country, perhaps legitimately conceived (???), but executed with breathtaking arrogance and incompetence and disdain for the likes of the Geneva Conventions, has not only dangerously destabilized the entire world but also whacked U.S. "brand power" at a very bad time. Market power today, as always, and more so than ever for that matter, from nations to companies, is about character as much as or more than size-of-arsenal. Put it this way, we've got a lot of catch up to do—and thinking about that as I gazed upon our reproduction patriots cast a pall on my day.
Still, it was a good game. For Ben's sake, I'm glad the Pats won—though my heart will always lie with my beloved Johnny Unitas-Ray Berry Baltimore Colts, John Madden-George Blanda Oakland Raiders and Ronnie Lott-Joe Montana San Francisco 49ers.
(Above: Tailgate Nation, Foxboro, MA, style.)
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What is most admirable to me about the New England Patriot "brand" is its commitment to continuous improvement. Seemingly whatever the outcome, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are always talking about what they could have done better. I don't believe this is false humility at all, but an authentic desire to do things better. Which is why (I like to think) I'd be a Patriots fan even if I didn't live here.
Maybe national "brands" can't be like this, can never admit of missteps, bad decisions, etc. But wouldn't it be nice... There is so much that is brilliant about "our brand." I was in Ireland recently, and saw how they're grappling with immigration for the first time in modern memory. Unfortunately, they have little means for "making someone Irish." (Nor do most/all of the other European nations have any real ability to assimilate immigrants.) Making someone American is something we do in unparalleled fashion. Our freedoms, our openness, the brilliance of our institutions (legal, economic, societal). So much good, so much goodness. It's terrible to see it squandered by bad decisions compounded by the far worse inability to admit our failures and learn from them.
I'm actually quite fond of the Patriots' musket-shooting colonial guard. I don't like equating the NFL with patriotism, but I do like the reminder that blue-staters love their country, too. Would that our beloved country had the ability to be more like the New England Patriots and try more determinedly to learn from our mistakes and get things right.
Posted by Maureen Rogers at November 27, 2006 9:13 PM
As bad as our season has been it is nice to have Tom still remain a fan. Thanks Tom and you are always welcome to one of our games. And the Pats commitment to improvement is real. Belichick is one of a kind.
Posted by michael lombardi at November 28, 2006 8:41 AM
Just which wars have ever been "excellently" executed? Wars suck and mistakes are made and they ALL go on too long. In the end, what matters most is winning the damn things. In this instance, however, it is unimaginable that ANYTHING at this point will be considered winning by the masses. And good grief... we're gonna trust Iran and Syria now? You can't write fiction that unbelievable.
It is increasingly, sickeningly apparent that our country may never be able to sustain the willpower to do the kind of work that needs to be done in Iraq. Talk to soldiers who have been there and are going back. I have. Yes, it's a tough job... but they want to finish it. They are absolutely astonished at the misrepresentations seen on our "newscasts." What we have now is two sides entrenched. Bush has become even more stubborn because he sees the left and the media as truly hurting our cause and our country. The left and the media have become increasingly vitriolic and willing to report ANY possible negative news... and worrying (sometimes) about checking out if it was accurate later, because they are convinced Bush is bonkers.
But hold on, because we are about to make some of the biggest mistakes of this war by listening to the recommendations of this "panel" led by James Baker. Why on earth does this country trust that Bush (or even a President they like) can choose a bunch of semi-retired guys and then treat them like they are the great wisemen? Good gracious, look at Baker's past follies! And hell, I'm Republican.
One of the biggest reasons our country's "brand" is a little tarnished right now is that the bad guys who should fear us increasingly see that we have apparently lost our nerve. When the bad guys fear us, our "friends" have a way of thinking more highly of us.
I pray it does not take another 9/11 type event to refocus this country... but I fear it will.
Posted by Dave at November 28, 2006 9:31 AM
Dave - a war excellently executed? How about Gulf War 1? Clear international agreement, clear brief, the military given command and they executed to the letter. A lot of clearing up to do afterwards but as a conflict: done and dusted pretty quick.
I think the reason why President Bush and, to a similar extent, my Prime Minister Blair are routinely pilloried is more to do with their refusals to acknowledge that the situation is parlous. As politicians, they seem obsessed with the idea that progress is measured by elections and committees and statutes. They seem to overlook the fact that 3000+ people are killed every month, unemployment and poverty are rampant and the country is in a state of all but civil war.
I think these two leaders have actually demonstrated incredible resolve, but it's been focused on the wrong issue. Sure, getting the nuts and bolts of democracy in place is important (even though it's a new concept for most Iraqis) but doing whatever is needed to get the basic security of the country resolved surely should have been and should become the number 1 priority. Without that, all else is talk.
Posted by Mark JF at November 28, 2006 10:22 AM
You mean GW 1, in which we showed we were great at destroying whatever army would actually face us... and then leaving with the core of the problem still around? Where we allowed the Butcher of Baghdad to remain (along with much of his elite forces)? Where we allowed (by washing our hands of them) that regime to subsequently mass murder, rape, etc. those whom had briefly stood with us in that war? Funny, that was a war ACTUALLY FOUGHT PURELY FOR OIL, and now it's held up as an example. Look, I agree that we had to do it. I'm far less impressed that we had "world" support then. That support can be bought and/or coerced pretty easily.
Our troops fought GW1 brilliantly and then were pulled out with the problem still existing. Not sure if I'd call that excellent.
Posted by Dave at November 28, 2006 11:24 AM
Lazy-evil Muslim "brand power" is the New Deal - Free World recognizes like never before how deviant, low-IQ, and low-class too many Muslims are in governance, and "religious" matters - Iraq - Iran - Syria - Somalia ... Saudis, et al. USA liberal democrats must rise to the occasion.
Dave & Mark - the idea of liberal culture in the USA/EU needing another 9/11 and/or 7/7 to "wake up" isn't new ... but may be reality - fighting to stay free given Islam has EU domination planned within 50 years may be a challenge. "Whacked" is perfect - if you want love - get a puppy.
Free World "branding" is seen as weakened by Islam-Fascists. Maybe leave Iraq now ['07] and focus on immediately killing Iran & N Korea's nuclear ability - while Islamists killing each other is captured as Pay per View - proceeds to past victims - free pork sandwiches for Pay customers & free Patriot tickets.
Posted by sean_brand_new at November 28, 2006 11:40 AM
As usual, Sean, your passion is exceeded only by your BS. But, you are mostly right. Too many "sunshine patriots" in this country right now. Now is indeed the winter of our discontent, but what shall we do with the opportunity? Time will tell.
Posted by Mike at November 28, 2006 11:52 AM
"Yes, it's a tough job... but they want to finish it. They are absolutely astonished at the misrepresentations seen on our 'newscasts.'"
Mark JF, alas, we're going to have to disagree on this. I have a nest of reserve pilot friends who've been there on 5 or 6 mini-tours by now. Maybe their view is different since they aren't regulars, but they find the idea of "winning" somewhere between hilarious and insane. They are on the other side--to the man they tell me that the press has been well controlled, and has wildly under-reported the hopelessness of it all. One of my closest pals recently flew Senator ["Hawk"] Warner's Chief of Staff around for several days--apparently the guy was blown away by how much worse things were than either briefings by 3-stars or the news dudes.
When I was in Vietnam, those of us who were there were willing to do our duty and do it as well as we could. [58,000 of us came home in bodybags.] And we were annoyed by a public that didn't appreciate us. But as to "staying the course" or wanting more troops so we could "do it right"--what a crock; we were obviously in a quagmire, there was clearly no progress, and LBJ pissed us off for not seeing that or admitting it; mostly, we saw the press as our allies. [I was there 1966-1968, in I Corps. I lucked out and came home 6 weeks before the Tet Offensive; I'd been in Phu Bai, where it subsequently started.]
Posted by tom peters at November 28, 2006 11:53 AM
Dave - "Our troops fought GW1 brilliantly and then were pulled out with the problem still existing." Agreed - and my point is that they did exactly what they were told to do. We can argue about whether the remit was correct or not but it was a clearly defined conflict and was surgically executed. And I'd say a key point is that, while oil was involved, that isn't what GW1 was seen to be about: it was about the liberation of Kuwait as a sovereign state invaded by Iraq. That's why the fighting was better supported, there was broad political unanimity around the whole mission and the reconstruction (OK: different to Iraq) was better supported. That's a mighty deal closer to excellent than many conflicts, especially the current mess.
Posted by Mark JF at November 28, 2006 11:59 AM
Mike & Mark - I agree with Tom & many others about the Iraq chaos & [no "BS"] innovatively think we LEAVE early & often - nuclear to me is the real threat. Islam warlords, criminals, sect v sect killers, terrorists - republics & freedoms are NOT for many of them now.
Posted by sean at November 28, 2006 12:20 PM
well said tom. we are most definitely facing an uphill battle on many fronts. and at 25..i have to say, the future is frightening!!
Posted by rachel gaddy at November 28, 2006 12:51 PM
"And I'd say a key point is that, while oil was involved, that isn't what GW1 was seen to be about: it was about the liberation of Kuwait as a sovereign state invaded by Iraq."
viagra active pillsWith all due respect... COME ON! The world couldn't give a darn about Kuwait's sovereignty. They could not allow Saddham to control that much of the world's oil supply. Too much power resided in too dangerous a kook. If Kuwait were know for growing lima beans, it would still be annexed to Iraq and the world would look the other way. Or, probably bounce around a few meaningless UN Resolutions for good show.
Posted by Dave at November 28, 2006 2:12 PM
Dave - to an extent you're right but this is an example of where leadership (like it or not) means being politically astute and playing the game. Sure it was about oil, else we'd have intervened in Africa and who knows where else. But in GW1, the coalition could present its case as the rescue of one sovereign state from invasion by another and by and large the world agrees with this as a noble cause and falls in behind you. Present it as regime change, however...
Tom - the "Yes it's a tough job..." piece was Dave, not me! My point is that from the start, the politicians should have focused less on elections and the trappings of statehood, more on day-to-day security, e.g not disbanding the Iraq police force. Maybe (and I accept it's a mighty big maybe) we'd have had more stability that way.
Posted by Mark JF at November 28, 2006 2:42 PM
Mark- yes, it was my comment that suggested the folks actually fighting are amazed by the misreporting they see. Tom's contacts (maybe they are higher ups) seem to think otherwise. My last conversation was with a young man who lives in our community who is one of only 170 active Scout Snipers in the Marines. He was on rooftops (Guardian Angel) for the reclaiming of Fallujah, taking out bad guys (and they REALLY tried to take him out as well) and eventually joined the door-kickers (on his own decision) when their ranks were depleted. Maybe the guys who are literally taking lives and saving their buddies' lives on the ground have a different, more personal connection. Not saying these guys have the best perspective for what "victory" would take. But this guy, and others I've heard from, say that none of their good work or successes get reported, even when they go out of their way to show journalists what they've accomplished. Let a bad guy kill some innocents, however, and the world knows about it within the newscycle.
Posted by Dave at November 28, 2006 3:02 PM
Dave - agreed! Sometimes in any walk of life you're given a truly sh*t "mission impossible" task. You don't know what the real aims of the higher-ups are and you're not part of the political chicanery that surrounds it: you just have your own professional pride in trying to achieve your sh*t mission impossible. The tragedy is that this one involves real lives and real deaths - coalition and Iraqi. Was it Churchill who described world war soldiers as giants lead by pygmies?
Posted by Mark JF at November 28, 2006 5:46 PM
BTW, as an Englishman who really only knows a little about what you folks call "football," I'm a huge Miami Dolphins fan. Dan Marino, the Marks Bros... great stuff that got me into the sport!
Posted by Mark JF at November 28, 2006 5:53 PM
It hit me like a rock... "It was a sloppy game (lots of turnovers), but most games between excellent teams are "sloppy," which is an inevitable product of the best playing each other as hard as is humanly possible." As President of a small software company, with some very formidable competitors, I can see how this can happen in the market place. There's got to be more than "humanly possible." Thanks Tom for that golden nugget.
viagra over counterPosted by Randall Farrar at November 28, 2006 7:03 PM
Gentlemen: I am simply amazed by what some of you are saying. To begin with, my "higher ups" are the likes of 28-year-old USAF transport pilots, doing local troop support--no general officers. And with this exchange on my mind, I talked yesterday, on a long ride, to a former* (*once a Marine always a Marine--no such thing as "former") Marine sergeant who'd been in Vietnam at about the same time I had. He and I were exactly on the same page.
The soldier's creed throughout the ages:
Do your duty.
Support your buddies with your life.
Avoid heroics.
Come home in one piece.
Leave the strategy to the Colonels and Generals.
And that's all folks.
A hot war ain't the risk-assessment at a bank. "Brand You" on the battlefield is for the movie stars; do your job with all the skill you can muster and come home is the goal.
Posted by tom peters at November 29, 2006 2:06 AM
Covered Iraq information over and over about how our incredible USA Marines [boys really] are randomly placed on patrols of roads that mean nothing - except they become killing fields of vulnerability - mines & bombs & snipers.
Plus the matter of door to door kicking it in to take out the "enemy" - radically vulnerable doing that - and for what end now in December '06?
Out in '07 [not post '08 elections - thanks lazy politicians] to me is THE most insightful, innovative and creative DREAM there is.
The radical BRANDING taking place is how HATED Muslims ARE - especially since 2000 it is worldwide obvious now deviant and devilish Islam has become.
Posted by sean at November 29, 2006 9:24 AM
Addendum to my Comment: There are incredible heroics in wartime. But 99.9999999% are about saving one's buddies asses, not "winning one for the Gipper."
Posted by tom peters at November 29, 2006 10:12 AM
Tom, your Johnny Unitas reference reawakens a vividly painful childhood memory: watching my beloved New York Giants losing the 1958 National Football Championship in sudden death overtime to Unitas' Baltimore Colts in the (first) "Greatest Game Ever Played." Fortuitously it was televised nationally on NBC, which helped propell professional (US) football into the big time. Hard to believe that pro football players in that day had to work additional "regular jobs" to make a living. Words like "passion," "engagement," "inspiration" would especially fit the NFL workforce of that era.
Posted by John O'Leary at December 2, 2006 11:42 AM