Yeah. I get it already. As a country, we've done some pretty horrific things. We've implemented some pretty terrible policies.
But I can call bullshit too. And I'll tell you this much: I've had enough [update 12:46am] America-hating ragging on America's evils (if you think that change of phrase really allays your concerns) for one post-victorious election period.
Please understand something important: it is perfectly legitimate--and in fact quite necessary--to remind the people of this nation about our the ways in which the policies of the present may lead to an unfortunate repetition of the inglorious circumstances of certain aspects of our nation's past. After all, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
But it is quite another--and is, in my estimation, morally problematic and politically damaging--to engage in dramatic reminders of every single egregious offense of the past, as if somehow a soapbox of this kind brings with it some sense of righteously indignant moral authority.
It really doesn't.
I do not come here to this site to be reminded about how much America sucks. I do not come to a political website to be reminded about how bad it was that we allowed slavery or interned the Japanese. Yeah, I'll be one of the first to use these examples as a comparandum for current policy, but simply using them as past examples to demonstrate how much this nation's tolerance of our current atrocities further proves how much America sucks--that, quite frankly is beyond the pale.
It offends me, quite honestly. It offends me that so many people will stop by and applaud, saying, "thank you for pointing out just how much America sucks."
I'll get to my own moral sensibilities in a minute. But let me start with politics--like I always do.
I'm not a moral relativist. The sins of the past are evil, and well-documented. The sins of the current administration are also evil to their varying degrees--and will also be well-documented and take their place alongside the past transgressions allowed by this nation. But come on--we knew that already. The problem is this:
We are a new political force in America. That means we here at this site, and the netroots in a larger sense, influence policy in America.
Come on, guys--we've barely emerged from the shadows of the "America-hating liberal" myth becoming a subject of mainstream political discourse, and in the very immediate aftermath of a resounding electoral success, we as a community "call bullshit on America" on the recommended list of the largest and most influential political blog in the nation??
Sorry to say this, but that's just plain stupid. Even if I agreed 100% with the content, message, and idea of the presentation in question, you'd have to be a political dunce to think that's the message we want to be propagating to the public--the idea that we must chastise ourselves in some purification ritual for the sins committed by our ancestors generations ago, rather than using the past as a guide of what to avoid when charting our future course.
But I'm also teed off because I'm an American patriot, goddamnit.
You know what? I just got back from a 10,000 mile trek across this country. I have seen more of the United States in the past two months than many people get the chance to see in their entire lives. I have seen its high points and low points. I have seen its oceans, its forests, its deserts. Its snow-capped mountains and its desert valleys. I have seen the whole range of urban to rural, from the sparkling metropolis to the corn fields that go on for as far as the eye can see. I've seen every single socioeconomic category you can think of, from rich suburbia to the urban core, from the rural farmhouse to the artist's studio.
I have seen where the history of this country was created, from the fomenting of the revolution to the flashpoints of our civil war. From George Washington's favorite tavern, to the exact place where MLK was shot.
And you know what?
I fucking love this country, goddamnit. Its trials and tribulations. Its permanent struggle with the advancement of the founding principles of equality and freedom.
I love this country because anyone can be an American. Being American is an idea, not a fact. For all its faults, which are many, this country fucking invented the concept of a limited consititutional democracy. For all our faults and all our wars, we have been, from Jefferson to FDR to Kosovo, a country that will make tremendous sacrifices to protect what is good in this world, and I'm not ever going to forget that.
When I went to DC, and I beheld yet again the Capitol, the White House, and the memorials and the monuments to our fallen heroes, I was reminded yet again that America is bigger than any President. Bigger than any Congress. And certainly bigger than any blogger or anyone who posts on this site. It is, rather, the collective consciousness of all of us who are striving to shape America according to our own moral precepts.
And it is there that the battle must be waged.
So when I see anybody, anywhere, I don't care who, talking about how evil America is to justify their own self-righteousness; when I see that, I consider it an offense to everyone who has put in the blood, sweat, tears and money to try to restore and refurbish American Democracy.
I consider it an offense to myself personally, who traveled 10,000 miles to document the ongoing revolution in our political system.
I consider it an offense to every single candidate and political person I talked to, of both political parties, who are doing their damnedest--and yes, that includes some Republican candidates and bloggers I met--to restore integrity to our government.
I consider it an offense to the dedicated activists and volunteers like PsiFighter37, a man I'm proud to call my friend, who worked tirelessly on two different political campaigns despite being a student at an Ivy League university--and then worked even more tirelessly to blog for us about his reports from the ground.
And last, but most certainly not least--it is an offense to every man and woman who has died in the service of this country--men and women who gave their lives on account of their dedication to making the world a better place and fulfilling the ideals of American Democracy.
AMERICA: FUCK YEAH. And don't you forget it.