Pro Patria

I love my country.  I grew up here, unlike Rafael Cruz.  It's great.  But it's not perfect.  Unlike Republicans, who seem to want to pretend it's perfect, who subscribe to the "American Exceptionalism" idea, and who tend to say things along the lines of "how dare you talk about anything wrong America has done, or is doing?  History doesn't matter, slavery was a long time ago, blah blah."

I would like to talk about reality.  I like reality, as it is.  Again, it's not perfect, but I like it. Conservatives tend to like fantasy.  I want a country where we know our past.  "My country right or wrong- when right to be kept right, when wrong to be put right."  I want to celebrate the good we've done, and correct the wrong we've done, and move forward.  Not dwell in some rose-colored past.  I want to be aware and educated and forward-thinking.  We're always moving forward, or at least should be.  I appreciate history, but don't romanticize it.  I want my country to be aware.

What do conservatives want?  They want to pretend that history didn't happen?  That racism doesn't exist?  What country do conservatives want?  Do they want an ignorant, uneducated, fantasizing populace?  I think they do.  I think they want a population that can be distracted and subjugated with stories like that.  Get them riled up about the wrong things, rather than dealing with reality.  Look- if you ignore problems you just make them worse.  They do not go away.  If you talk about them and work through them you can make them better.  Republicans are the party of ignorance and delusion. You can try to convince me otherwise, but you're going to have to try real hard because there is so much evidence to support my view.

I love my country.  I love its history, good and bad, and think none of it should be ignored, forgotten, twisted.  I enjoyed the fireworks yesterday and thought of all the things I am proud of about the United States of America, but I didn't forget the unsavory things.  I love my country, and I love reality.  Some of us need to remember to do both.