hat would Lawrence Welk think of the world today?
What makes me be thinking about Lawrence Welk, you might wonder. I’m not much the Lawrence Welk type — all that flag waving an hymning. Don’t mind the ballroom dancing, though, but the accordian music and the Lennon sisters I could live without.
I sat with my mother this evening and watched a DVD From Lawrence Welk to America with Love. She, of course, was entranced by the “big band” music and the harmonious singers. I couldn’t help notice how old everyone was — especially the audience. I mean, they looked even older than I am.
If you didn’t live through the 40s and 50s, then you have no idea how patriotic we all were during those years. We all believed that America was the greatest country in the world, and like Superman, we would always defend “truth, justice, and the American way.”
We were a white bread country, at least on the surface. For those of us on that surface, it felt good to be proud to be an American. We believed we were the good guys. Lawrence Welk was a good guy. He honored his parents and his family; he believed that God had blessed him; he loved America.
I wonder if he would still love what it has become.