I am ashamed of my country
Last night, standing on the balcony I noticed a neighbor flying the American flag. I have a flagpole and have not once considered flying the American flag. For I am ashamed.
Ashamed of a nation that tortures.
Ashamed of a country that wages war on nations without regard to the consequence.
Ashamed of a nation where there is a debate over providing health care to its children.
Ashamed of a nation with twenty percent of its citizens living in poverty and squalor.
Ashamed of government that debates torture rather than abhorring it.
Amidst all this shame, though, is hope. I hope to live in a country that is again a leader in human rights across the globe. I hope to live in a country that ensures the least have enough. A country that can afford both SUVs and health care.
So as Iraq continues to be a lethal morass, while the rich get richer and the poor slip further into despair, I hope.
So now, as hope draws sooner with each passing day we all hope. Hope is, after all, at the essence of Democracy. We debate the merits of our nominees with passion and fervor and conviction. Because we all share this hope. Hope for a leader who will unite us, lead us, and make us each better together. To one day stand up proudly behind a country both a beacon and a model. Then we can once more fly the flag, our nation’s flag, with pride.
So as much despair and tragedy is being inflicted today, and will continue, tragically unabated for far too long, soon there is hope. Until then, I've got a barren flagpole and some pie in the oven.