Hidden in a Corner

It's a black iron statue of two figures set in a little-trafficked alcove outside the Princeton University Chapel, which is really a huge cathedral where my mother's funeral service was held: Abraham about to slay a kneeling, bound Isaac, to show his obedience to God by sacrificing his only son. In the Old Testament, an angel stops Abraham at the last moment.

You have to look at the wall on the mighty stone edifice to see why the sculpture is there. It says "In memory of the four students killed at Kent State University on May 4, 1970."
Why it's at Princeton I don't know. Some say it was too controversial for the Ohio campus.

It is supposed to be symbolic of the older generation sacrificing the younger, of the 58,000 mostly very young dead American soldiers in Vietnam. But the national guardsmen who did the shooting were just like those in southeast Asia, young themselves, and scared and confused.

There are those who say that incident proves that the American government is no different from any other state; that when threatened it will react with repression and violence.

It was during this period that my grandfather, House Majority Leader at the time, suspected his phone was being tapped by the FBI. He had been critical of the agency and especially Hoover for infiltrating student and left-wing groups with spies and informants.

Kent State was and is not known for being radical or even liberal, but Nixon had just invaded an area known as "The Parrot's Beak" for the way it sticks into Vietnam only 20 miles or so from Saigon. People thought the war was spreading.

Actually, that area should have been invaded at the beginning of the war, just the way the Ho Chi Mihn Trail should have been cut. I'm sure at any war college, they'd pretty much tell you that allowing an enemy sanctuary 20 miles from your capital is not a good idea militarily, just as allowing them an undisturbed supply line (except for bombing) in Laos was ludicrous (as was the total fallacy that Laos was neutral).

But the question remains: how free is the US government? Would it lash out violently at its citizens if really threatened? Without newspapers, would we be too busy watching "American Idol" to care?