It seems that today, loving one's country simply means mindlessly waving the flag and acquescing without question to the whims of the President. Whatever happens in America must be good, because nothing ever bad happens here. It's a simple-minded love; not true patriotic devotion.
A true patriot loves all of America. As Alan Watts once wrote, loving your country goes far beyond embracing principles or waving the flag. What is your country, he asked. It's the people, the land and everything else. The water and air. Our cities and suburbs. Small rural towns.
What's this have to do with Ohio, you might ask? Well, loving our country and our democracy has everything to do with Ohio.
It was very disappointing to hear people on the left quickly dismiss the voting irregularities which occurred in Ohio this year. Sweep it under the rug, quickly! Let's not talk about it. Too many of us felt this way.
Had we taken the advice of those that felt this way, we would not be very good patriots. Being patriotic, for myself, means standing up for any American who feels they've been suppressed.
Loving our country means that every vote should count and that the antics of Ohio '04, which are well documented now, should not be tolerated. Period. They should be discussed and addressed. Lines of 4 or 5 or more hours are just not acceptable. Unauditable voting machines are unacceptable. Not having a national election standard is unacceptable.
You can believe that Jim Crow and Poll taxes have seen their time - but they have only been replaced with different schemes to deny millions of Americans the right to vote. Have we come this far to just abandoned the Civil Rights movement? Are we naive enough to believe that racism and election rigging are dead?
What happened in the Ukraine should have been a wake up call for our country. They've known democracy for a far shorter period of time, but look how passionate they are when push comes to shove - they took to the streets and in doing so may have saved their country.
Here, we pretend it doesn't happen. America is perfect. We are guiltless. Too many of us just cannot accept that the horrible stories we've heard of other governments relate to our own sometimes.
To turn away and pretend no problem exists is un-American. The true patriot stands and fights, because he knows you must love your country, good and bad, and that you fight like hell to right the wrongs.
To be silent now is unforgivable.