"Proud American"

[Left Is Write]

I saw this on the back of a car while on my way downtown this morning. It was a red, white and blue magnetic ribbon. The message was simply, "Proud American."

And I thought about that as I trailed this car down Myrtle Street.

I'm not feeling very proud as an American today. What's to be proud of? I'm ashamed of our current administration. I'm ashamed of our aggression. I'm ashamed of the collective arrogance of our federal government. I'm ashamed of the lies and cover-ups that have resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. I'm ashamed of the face we present to the rest of the world.

Tell me why anyone should be a "proud American" in this current era.

[stopbush]

1. America: land of the meaningless sloganeering

and home of the mindless consumer.

THAT kind of pride.

[Rob H.]

6. Ironically, those would be awesome decals or ribbons, too

America: Land of Meaningless Sloganeering on a magnetic red, white, and blue ribbon would make conservatives' heads explode. (I've seen yellow ribbons that say Support Our Ribbons, and I like those, too.)

[redqueen]

2. Was this supposed to go in GD?

Agree with your sentiments... I'm not especially proud of how these chickenhawk morans are running this country.

[Left Is Write]

3. No. Is it inappropriate for the Lounge?

[redqueen]

Nope...

Just curious... this subject seems worthy of a wider audience... and may I say a better caliber of one (you know how these Lounge Lizards are... effin useless!) ;)

[Hugin]

4. We were the first country to launch a monkey into office...

Quite the achievement.

[qnr]

5. Pride in what is the question. I am proud of what Americans have

accomplished over the years. I'm proud to be an American doing what little bit I can to get our nation heading in the right direction again.

[Wapsie B]

7. So do people like this mean

that someone can't live the life of their dreams in France?

[xmas74]

8. You can be proud but not have to agree w/ everything.

You can be proud that nearly half of our brothers and sisters chose to vote against fascism and you can have hope that more will in the near future. You can be proud to know that there are people out there every single day who have the courage to stand up for our rights and you can find ways to support them. You can feel proud to know that we have reps like Conyers to support us and that we can support people like him.
I know that we sometimes enjoy badmouthing the American public(I enjoy it too). But overall, we as Americans have usually had our hearts in the right place. We tend to root for the underdog. We tend to offer our support on whatever level is needed for those who desperately need it. The citizens in general usually try to do the right thing. Sometimes some are lead astray but most in general are proud to do what is overall right. And most people know this. They know that the policies of America do not represent what all Americans believe in.
You can be disgusted w/ your country and its policies in general. That is perfectly acceptable. You can be disgusted w/ specific groups. That is also acceptable. But you can also have hope in knowing that most Americans will eventually pull their heads out of their butts (it's happening now) and realize that what is happening is wrong. They will rectify the situation because they are overall good, if misinformed, people. And that will be a day that you can be proud of Americans in general.
Then again, I tend to be an optimist and I try to find the best in everyone.

[Telly Savalas]

9. Our home country is the birthplace of jazz and baseball...

and millions of really cool people.