Perfect Patriotism
As I said in my post this morning, I would like to address a specific assertion that has been repeatedly made by McCain campaign: the assertion that Barack and Michelle Obama’s statements to the effect that America is somehow less than perfect reveal a certain unpatriotic feeling towards this country:
-Early on, conservatives jumped on a statement made by Michelle Obama to the effect that she had not always been “proud of America.” McCain was quick to say that he had ALWAYS been proud of America.
-Later they would point to her college dissertation, which indicated that the relationships between blacks and whites in our country are less than perfect…and they interpreted her words to say that she somehow disliked and distrusted all white people.
-McCain’s surrogates filled the media with quotes from the Reverend Jeremiah Wright…in one of the most volatile sermons he declared, “God D**n America.” Obama’s attendance at the church and association with Wright caused many to assume that he must have hatred for America.
-Palin stumped around the country claiming that something was un-American about Obama’s association with Bill Ayers and how it highlighted some notion that Obama believes that America is imperfect.
-McCain has repeatedly pointed out Obama’s support for a progressive tax structure, and has strongly insinuated that Obama would seek to change us into a socialist society as a means of addressing our socio-economic disparities.
-Conservatives have flooded the internet with clips of Obama calling the Constitution imperfect…saying that it indicates that he will not uphold the document.
So this leads inevitably to the question: is it necessary for an American patriot to always be proud of his/her country…must he/she see America as perfect?
Well, let me ask you some questions to test YOUR pride:
-Are you proud of the fact that we performed acts of genocide against the Native Americans in the early years of our country’s founding?
-Are you proud of the fact that we institutionalized slavery, bringing millions of slaves into this country…and that this institution lasted nearly one hundred years (and that’s just counting the years after the Constitution was ratified…slaves were used in North America for centuries prior)?
-Are you proud that even after giving voting rights to blacks and Native Americans…we didn’t give the same rights to women until 1920?
-Are you proud of the internment camps that we put Japanese-American CITIZENS into during World War II?
-Are you proud of the Watergate scandal?
-Are you proud of how we handled the Vietnam War?
-Are you proud of how we handled hurricane Katrina?
You’ll notice that I say “we” did these things…in a representative democracy, the government acts “on our behalf“…so we too are responsible for our government’s actions. And here are some more questions about just how perfect we are doing:
-How many members of Congress have later been found guilty on ethics or criminal charges?
-How many people have been elected to legislatures who were members of the KKK?
-How many people in this country are illiterate?
-How perfect are race relations? How many racially motivated crimes were committed last year?
-What percentage of our population possesses 95% of the country’s wealth?
-How many children are there starving in America right now?
-What percentage of the homeless population are clinically mentally ill?
-How many “mom and pop” businesses have been driven under by superstores selling cheap, Chinese goods?
-How many people on death row have later been exonerated?
-How many murders were committed in the United States last year?
-How much less an hour does a woman make than a man for doing the same work?
-How many citizens who were fully qualified and entitled to vote last election were turned away from the polls, or otherwise prevented from voting?
I guessing that your answer to these questions wouldn’t be, “just the right amount.” But see, being a “proud American” or a “patriot” is not about seeing America or the American government as perfect…it was always supposed to be about equality, opportunity, fairness, and liberty. And when we have fallen short in these ideals…perhaps not treated someone with full equality, we ought well to be critical and humbled. The person who truly cares for this nation and its ideals SHOULD cry out that something is wrong…that our guiding principles have not been met.
That’s why, I would rather elect a candidate who is honest about the problems in this country, and who seeks to address them…than the candidate who says they have “always been proud” of this country and that anyone who says anything to the contrary is someone to be vilified.
