With Liberty and Justice for Some.

With Liberty and Justice for the people to whom we feel like extending it.
I wrote a new version of my country 'tis of thee... which started out as a joke and then I tacked a potentially somewhat controversial tirade onto it so have fun.

Not-so-gleamingly patriotic jokes on the fourth of July?
Hell yes.
And this is why: being a patriot is not about supporting everything that this nation does and saying how wonderful it is.
1. When you love someone you don't allow them to do stupid crap. You don't walk around supporting their mistakes, you go up to them and say "You are not this person. You are better than this - I know that and that is why we are friends. Let's change this. I will help you in every way that I can." If you love America don't let it do stupid stuff- acknowledge the mistakes that this country has made. Ignorance is not bliss - it is a missed opportunity to correct mistakes. (I am referring specifically to our foreign policy here.)

2. No one is going to hand you freedom on a platter.
You are going to have to fight for it your entire life- even here in the US. This recent NSA fun times shows us that more than anything else. Some clever book store owners started putting the constitution beside Orwell's 1984 as a joke - but it is not really a joke. Remember remember - Tacitus' description of the "republic" that existed during the reign of Augustus and Tiberius? The Roman emperors held the senate there pretending that it was not a totalitarian state, "we are free...enough?" said the less observant. Tacitus says the Roman people reached such a state that they could not have governed themselves as a real republic even if they had wanted to, they became dependent on the emperors- the Romans had acquired a slave mentality. There is nothing more patriotic then defending the freedom and privacy of the citizens of the United States of America.

3. The most patriotic thing that I can think of right now :
On March 5th 1770 five Americans were shot by British Soldiers in what is called the Boston Massacre. In the face of American fury the lawyer and future president John Adams choose to defend the British Soldiers in court. John Adams ignored those who called him a traitor, because he believed that everyone had the right to a fair trial.


Today's overly preachy message brought to you by an abundance of "Let's not criticize America folks" posts on Facebook.

Also here is last year's fourth of July post which more lighthearted says fun stuff about "Americhina": http://seizetheabsurd.blogspot.com/2012/07/independence-day.html