Proud To Be An American

This week end as I watched the pre-Inaugural festivities, I remembered the flak that Michelle Obama took during the election campaign because she said that “for the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country…” I knew what she meant because I felt so proud of my country. I had tears in my eyes as I watched thousands of young people singing with Pete Seeger “This Land Is Your Land” at the Lincoln Memorial. How did we ever forget that this is “our land”?

I guess I’m a softie because the recent military funerals of my brothers-in law brought the tears, too. Taps is perhaps the saddest and most plaintive melody ever played and that may pushed my sadness over the brink. But more than that, the military salute recognizes the service and valor of these men, who grew up in the Depression, left as frightened boys to fight wars in lands that they would never have dreamed of visiting, had battlefield experiences that they didn’t want to talk about, and returned home, older, wiser and patriotic. Then they set about building peace and America.

We forgot what service to our country meant when we were told to go shopping after 9/11. Instead, I felt shame as we invaded Iraq for no good reason, anger and fright that Americans were being spied upon and even imprisoned on suspicion with no right to legal counsel, and horror at our mounting deficits, trade policies, and alienation of world opinion. I wondered what our Senators and Representatives were thinking as they went along with waging war, bad fiscal policies and all the rest we’ve suffered in these past years.

I have always been an American, however outrageous the actions of our government were. I never claimed Canadian citizenship, as some did, during the Bush years when traveling abroad. Patriotism can be painful when one’s government is scorned by the rest of the world.

To quote Thomas Paine:

‘THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. ‘The American Crisis’, Thomas Paine, 1776

On the other hand, It’s easy to be American when times are good, the economy is growing, there are no wars, the world loves us, and our biggest complaint is that the government is taking our money by taxing us.

I hope and pray that we are on a new road with a government that functions with American ideals and asks sacrifice and service from ALL Americans. It is assuring to see so many young people filled with enthusiasm and the energy to make a new United States. I pray that they and the rest of us will not lose our zeal to turn America around in the tough years ahead.