The America I Love

To those who believe there is a group of Americans who hate their country simply because they vote differently, I would say this...You could not be more wrong. I love my country.

The America I love is the one whose very first act was declaring that all men are created equal, arguably the most important concept to ever originate from the mind of man. I love the America that recognized slavery for the sin it was and fought to preserve the Union while passing the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments ending slavery and encoding in the Constitution the Declaration's premise that all are created equal. I love the America that fought the Nazis and fascism and demanded no territory or compensation as tribute. I love the America that spent 11 months flying food, coal and other necessities to our vanquished enemies in Berlin when the USSR tried to choke them off from the West. I love the America that righted the wrong of Plessy v Ferguson by finding separate but equal unconstitutional in Brown v Board of Education. I love the America that recognizes that we are a nation of immigrants - immigrants who have always embraced what it means to be an American while bringing energy and vitality to our shores. I love the America that has funded the greatest system of universities the world has ever known, delivering science that has improved the health and lives of billions. And most importantly, I love the America that is so secure in itself that it allows us to disagree with it when we see fit.

That America is the one that puts a lump in my throat while standing in line to vote and tears in my eyes during the National Anthem, regardless whether performed by a full choir or a bluegrass quartet.

That is also the America that is under relentless attack from the current administration, led by a president who does not seem to remotely understand America's true greatness - and far too many cheer those attacks. Which is why so many of us no longer shed tears of pride, but tears of sadness when we hear the National Anthem. It is not that we hate our country, but because we love it - just as we would simultaneously love our child and cry watching them travel an erroneous path. There could be no greater love.