Skip to content

AMERICA, DAMMIT! - Thoughts from Glacier National Park

2016-08-12 · documentary visit · Hank, Katherine Green · 3:47 · watch on YouTube

Topic: US politics & society (also: Science & nature) · mode: Personal essay · tags: on location, recurring series, timely hook, guest or collab

From Glacier National Park and its Going-to-the-Sun Road, Hank argues that an election year of demonization and Donald Trump's popularity hide what America has built, and that he loves the country and is proud to be American anyway.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Glacier National Park: no cell signal, the Going-to-the-Sun Road, its cliffs, repairs, Logan Pass snow and short season

  • ★★ Hank spent last weekend in Glacier National Park, full of scenic beauty and without cell phone signal, maybe because of the cliffs and not wanting towers on scenic mountains. (hedged) — 00:00:01
  • ★★ Hank says the Going-to-the-Sun Road, completed in the 1930s, bisects Glacier National Park. — 00:00:16
  • ★★ Hank finds the road a little terrifying, driving basically 3 feet from a precipitous drop; passengers feel they should lean away from the cliff but should lean toward it for the view. (playful) — 00:00:22
  • ★★ Hank calls the road an engineering marvel that needs constant repair because of avalanches and freeze-thaw cycles, and that goes nowhere but to the top. — 00:00:44
  • ★★ Hank says Logan Pass, at the top, is regularly covered in more than 80 feet of snow in winter; the road closes in September and reopens in July. — 00:01:00

00:01:11 — A uniquely American road to democratize grandeur; Trump news at the hotel; not a nationalist; election-year demonization; proud to be American

  • ★★★ Hank calls the road a uniquely American move: a beautiful place reachable only by the very dedicated, so spend millions on a miraculous road to democratize access to grandeur. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:11 · United States
  • ★★★ Hank says with no signal you check the news back at the hotel and learn Donald Trump has again said something disgusting and inexcusable that somehow hasn't disqualified him from the presidency. — 00:01:33 · Donald Trump, United States presidential election
  • ★★ Hank says he's not much of a nationalist; he likes that the park's ecosystem stretches across the border into Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park. — 00:01:52 · Canada
  • ★★★ Hank says a commitment to being a proactive part of the global economic, social and ecological systems we rely on is part of what he loves about being American. — 00:02:01 · United States
  • ★★★ Hank says he really loves the country, though it is harder in election years, when Americans demonize each other so hard that everyone ends up looking like demons. — 00:02:13 · United States presidential election
  • ★★ Hank says this election looks a lot worse than the last one, and he feels particularly discouraged. — 00:02:27 · United States presidential election
  • ★★★ Hank says it's easy to forget what the country has built and what it cost; stop looking at Twitter for a few hours and look at what we've built. — 00:02:32 · Twitter, United States

  • ★★★ Hank grants the country has problems worth discussing, but says he loves it and is proud to be American even facing the popularity of a despicable man. — 00:02:50 · Donald Trump, United States

    “God damn it if I'm not proud to be an American.”

00:03:10 — Outtakes: driving the road, hail, a chipmunk and a baby bison pooping

  • ★ Outtakes show the drive on the road, hail after a warning to be off the roads by a certain time, a chipmunk and a baby bison pooping. — 00:03:10

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In the description Hank says his country seems to exist in two universes: the wonderful one he experiences directly and the decaying one he hears about on television. — video description · United States
  • ★★ In the description Hank says he is sick of it, and particularly of Donald Trump leveraging fear into hate. — video description · Donald Trump
  • ★★★ Hank says Trump wants him afraid of so much that he has become most afraid of Trump himself; he has never seen anyone fan hatred like him and worries that hatred, once loose, cannot be put away again. — video description · Donald Trump

Humor (significant)

  • Passengers on the cliffside road feel they should lean away from the drop, though it would not help. — 00:00:41

    “You should lean toward the cliff because that's where the best view is.”

  • Hank imagines Americans deciding to spend millions on a miracle of a road to reach a remote beauty spot. — 00:01:24

    “let's give it a miraculous sounding name.”

  • Outtake: Hank reassures his passengers on the narrow cliff road ('Wide road'); an unidentified passenger answers. — 00:03:15

    “I just pooped my pants”

  • Outtake: after missing one animal pooping, Hank films a baby bison mid-poop; Katherine comments. — 00:03:45

    “Everybody poops, guys”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Donald Trump · Glacier National Park · Going-to-the-Sun Road · patriotism · United States

Also: People: Katherine Green

Organizations: Snapchat · Twitter

Concepts: nationalism · political polarization

Places: Canada · Logan Pass · Waterton Lakes National Park

Events: United States presidential election

Only in the description or credits: Thoughts from Places

← Previous: Why I Didn't Vote (And Six Reasons You Might Not) · Next → Some Good News: 16 Ways 2016 Is Not a Total Dumpster Fire