Salon: Trip to Selma

If America has an addiction, it is to its own onanistic self-glorification. It’s little surprise, then, that throughout the 50th anniversary commemoration, there was hardly a mention of the current state of Selma. Rather, the occasion was used, often exploited and manipulated, to present American exceptionalism with a human face. Officially, in President Obama’s remarks and media commentary, it was yet another opportunity to celebrate the greatness of America under the guise of recognizing real progress and actual patriotism.