|
I love my country.
Those who say that they are 'proud to be an American' and then preach the hatriotism of 'if you attack our President then you should leave the country' or the like, are not being proud of America.
They are backing concepts that America is against.
Why do I love this country? Because I and anyone else is free to speak out against the administration or any of it's officials, to question it's motives and it's values. Or really, because of the concepts that make that true.
The great divide in this nation is being created not by the liberals, but by those individuals who push a 'with us or agin' us' agenda. Who attack the patriotism of anyone who thinks the war in IRAQ is a farce. Who attack the patriotism of anyone who thinks that Bush and his supporters agenda of moral values is a danger to this nation.
The day we don't question or even attack those in office, they day we stop suspecting corruption where it could exist, and trade intelligent inspection and debate for blind nationalism is the day that democracy dies.
I'm sick at heart of watching someone post 'The war in IRAQ is wrong' and seeing responses like 'If you don't like this country, leave.' People who post that stuff seem to want a dictatorship, not a democracy, and betray America with that kind of rhetoric.
Bush was not voted against by those who voted against him because they are 'unpatriotic'. He was voted against by his detractors because they didn't think he was the best man for the job.
Politicians and the administration are NOT America. They exist to serve us, and deserve all of the questioning, suspicion, and demands they get.
I don't support Bush, I do question his policies and his motives, and yes, I do love my country. But I will never, ever, blindly support a politician or president if I don't feel their actions merit it. And those who turn that into being 'UnAmerican' have no idea what America is really about, or what a Democracy stands for.
|