Fox news and their ilk love to turn any critique of America by the left as "Hating America". We don't love America. Michael Moore has started to turn this argument on it's head by jumping on "Why do conservatives hate America", "I was taught to love my fellow man, because I am a Christian", co-opting their strawman before it starts. I love this tactic by Moore, but Obama is the master...
From his speech on Climate via Streetsblog
But understand there's also another myth that we have to dispel, and this one is far more dangerous because we're all somewhat complicit in it. It's far more dangerous than any attack made by those who wish to stand in the way progress -- and that's the idea that there is nothing or little that we can do. It's pessimism. It's the pessimistic notion that our politics are too broken and our people too unwilling to make hard choices for us to actually deal with this energy issue that we're facing. And implicit in this argument is the sense that somehow we've lost something important -- that fighting American spirit, that willingness to tackle hard challenges, that determination to see those challenges to the end, that we can solve problems, that we can act collectively, that somehow that is something of the past.
I reject that argument. I reject it because of what I've seen here at MIT. Because of what I have seen across America. Because of what we know we are capable of achieving when called upon to achieve it. This is the nation that harnessed electricity and the energy contained in the atom, that developed the steamboat and the modern solar cell. This is the nation that pushed westward and looked skyward. We have always sought out new frontiers and this generation is no different.
Boom. Saying we want to be better is not hating America. Pointing out our weaknesses and challenging ourselves to correct them is not hating America.
"that fighting American spirit, that willingness to tackle hard challenges, that determination to see those challenges to the end, that we can solve problems"
That's loving America. My depression era Grandfather would call these people a bunch of pantywaists - but not until he got home from a 12 hour day at the tire factory. He would then be called a pantywaist by my other Grandfather getting back from a 12 hour day at the coal mine.
San Francisco just started a mandatory composting law. The city can SAVE MONEY by reducing the amount of stuff that goes into the landfill and MAKE MONEY by selling compost. The trash company provides a bin for the compostables. Forget "Nanny-state" for a moment, I want to focus on the hue and cry about having to separate the trash. Oh, the hardship. Getting back from a desk job and bringing home takeout from Whole Foods and can't separate the leftover pesto salad and the recycleable container. These pantywaists need to go check out a coal mine. I think of the stories of how my grandmother's would butcher the chicken and use every single part of that bird to save a penny or two, and we can't be bothered to scrape the heirloom tomatoes into a special bin? I know this is an orthogonal example, but the point is that so many people cry about how things are so rough and the hardships they endure, makes me sick.
/rant
Murph
PS - my favorite Obamaism has to be "I reject that argument" - Make it so.