Red, White, and Blue, a Liberal and a Patriot Too

Memorial Day 2007 is just about in the books, it is always a day for me to reflect on things, to think about people in my life that have passed on, like my Babbie and Pappap, my friends Terry Williams and Dave Bennett, who died in a plane crash shortly after high school, and my good friend Wade Hashimoto, who was stabbed at a party in San Pedro shortly after high school as well. It is also a time to think about fallen soldiers, those who have lost their lives in service to their country. I don't know any fallen soldiers personally, but I feel that one thing that unites us as a nation, any nation, is the feeling of kinship with people that you've never met, but that you consider as your countrymen. It's why I feel a sense of loss for the victims of the 9/11 attacks in New York and elsewhere, even though I never met any of them. Both 9/11 victims, and the soldiers who have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars presumably have something in common with me, namely that we are regular Joe's, hard working honest Americans, who love our country, try to play by the rules, and care about our fellow human beings. I'm fortunate enough to still be alive and kicking, and at times like today it makes me glad to be alive, to have the opportunity to take my daughter and her friend to the local waterpark, as I did yesterday, and to have a nice family barbecue out in the backyard as we did today. I think of all the soldiers over in Iraq and Afghanistan right now that would kill to be able to do what I've done over the last few days, and it makes me appreciate what I have, and what they are doing, even though I don't agree with the Iraq War at all. I respect people that do the job they have to do, and even though I don't buy into the notion that the soldiers in Iraq are somehow protecting our freedom, I appreciate their patriotism and sense of duty.

That's right, I'm an unabashed liberal, anti-war, pacifist by nature, and strongly anti-Bush, but I am also a patriot with a sense of duty and love for my country and what it is supposed to stand for. And I know I'm not the only one. Somewhere along the way, liberals became lumped in with what I call the self-loathers, the people who profess hatred and contempt for America, who protest against anything and everything, and who basically have this smug, holier than thou attitude and a sense of derision towards anyone who isn't lockstep with their agenda. I'm a liberal, I opposed this war before it started, I oppose it now and hope against hope everyday that our leadership, the Congress and the President, will come to their collective senses and pull the plug on this entire misguided and completely botched operation and bring the troops home today. All of them, not tied to any vague benchmarks and not in three months or next year or after the election, but right now. I believe that President Bush is the most dangerous and worst president of my lifetime, and probably in the history of our nation. But I don't believe that he is an evil person, I don't believe that he is indifferent to the suffering he has caused, I don't believe that he allowed 9/11 to happen, and I certainly don't believe that he caused it so that he could take the nation into a series of wars. I don't believe that America is the devil, or imperialist pigs as many of the self-loathers proclaim. We have certainly strayed from our ideals and promise as a nation, but we still stand for freedom, for democracy and capitalism, and for human dignity.

I believe in America, when I see the flag fly it makes me proud, when I hear the National Anthem played before ball games it makes me thankful that I am a citizen of a nation that has brought much more positive to the world than it has negative. We are in a bad spot these days because of the poor decisions of our executive and legislative branches, not to mention the poor decisions made by a majority of our electorate, which did after all elect, and then reelect the man that only about a quarter of the country still approve of. But what makes this nation great has always been, and always will be, its people. Liberals and conservatives, rich and poor, young and old, white, black, brown, red, and Asian (I don't like yellow as a color for Asians), urban, suburban, and rural, east coast or west coast, southerners or midwesterners, Christians, Jews, Muslims, or seculars, recent immigrants and those whose ancestry traces back to colonial times. We are all Americans, and despite our many differences I insist that we have much more in common than we have differences.

If we remember and acknowledge this simple fact, there's nothing we can't accomplish, no hole we can't dig ourselves out of. Think back to how you felt immediately after 9/11. Were you concerned with whether the victims were Democrats or Republicans, what their race or ethnicity was, or their socioeconomic background? Or did you just feel a sense of loss for your fellow Americans and their families? On this Memorial Day, I think we can best honor those who have passed before us by committing to do our part to make this nation, and this world a better place, now, and for those who are coming after us. To me, that's what being a patriot is all about, that's what being an American is all about.