Mitt Romney has a favorite song: America The Beautiful. That's great. There's only one problem. He doesn't really know or maybe understand the verses. For instance, there's this one from the Boy Scout lyric book,
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!
Till selfish gain no longer stain the banner of the free. That means you Mitt and people like you who believe in a no holds barred unregulated system which is stacked in favor of the wealthy. This verse speaks directly to those motivated only by selfishness who at most pay lip service to the vast majority of Americans struggling to stay afloat or make a better life for their kids.
Here's another verse Mitt doesn't seem to be familiar with,
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
That's right. We are not perfect. We have flaws. We must continually strive to correct them. And we can only do so by exhibiting self control, both as individuals and a nation. That means we cannot impose our will on other countries and must temper our appetite to match our true needs. Only by doing this as individuals, that means you too Mitt, and as a nation can we hope to mend every flaw in our Nation.
I heard David Axelrod this morning on NPR refer to the first verse, which motivated me to reacquaint myself with this song and the poem it was based on. It was reminder of many things, including that when this was written in 1895 Katharine Lee Bates patriotism was much less gauzy that that of self-proclaimed patriots today. While there was much to be proud of there was a clear acknowledgement that we were not yet where we as a nation needed to be.