"Patriotism is easy to understand in America; it means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country"

-Calvin Coolidge, which is oddly appropriate considering he was a president revered among political scientists as a man who knew how to do nothing really effectively.

Today, I want to talk to you about America, The United States of. This would have been a more appropriate post yesterday, but I was to busy being patriotic by eating a lot of meat and watching my boyfriend injure himself while playing a sport known as 'fenceball' while inebriated. I think this is a very appropriate way to celebrate the 4th. After all, that great American family the Kennedys are big believers in drunken sports.

All that aside, I want to talk about the U.S.A. This is the time of year where a lot of people talk about forefathers and signings that they vaguely remember from history class and how great it is to be an American. I don't disagree. I love my country and, cheesy song lyrics aside, I am proud to be an American.

I am not always proud of our decisions and I am not always proud of our politicians. Let us be clear: America is not it's president! Though things have quieted down substantially over the last few years, there is still a lot of confusion about the general populace on this matter. A little after 9/11, I was repeatedly accused of being unpatriotic because I did not support the actions that immediately followed.

George W. Bush is not America. If this were the case, we would be living in a monarchy and an unpleasantly strict one at that. Disagreeing with him will not make you 'unamerican' (I'm looking at you Hilary Clinton, looking with laser beams shooting from my eyes! Don't try to cover it up now, we all remember.)

I love my country because it took in my grandfather's family when no one else would and sheltered my grandmother after she escaped from Auschwitz. I love my country because it chose democracy even it is often confused about what that means and how it works. I love my country because no matter how much anyone wants it to be so, Bush will eventually step down and the next person installed to potentially fail or succeed in his place.

I love my country because two hundred and some odd years ago, a whole bunch of British guys stuck in a strange land became guerrilla war fighting, John Locke plagiarizing, turkey loving rebels and decided to change the way things were with swords, guns and pens.

Independence rocks and I'm glad we've got it. Rock on America, rock on.


Catch you on the flipside,
Chic Geek Librarian