This I believe...

(with apologies to NPR)

I believe that Thanksgiving is a time to 

affirm our core beliefs...

We, as Americans, have so much to be grateful for....

life...

liberty...

the pursuit of happiness....

all men created equal....

(someday, maybe, even women)

peace on our shores.....

and 

most 

importantly,

freedom

what a bold word....

such an "in your face assertion"...

WE

HAVE 

FREEDOM!

We are free to....

bitch

complain

cheer for our team

be lazy

cry

laugh

sob

groan

mock

protest

support

choose indifference

create

explore

think independently

show loyalty, or not

work

play

grow, or not

love, or not

wallow in misery,

offend

mend

bend

end

Yes,

we are a funny lot...

filled with angst

courage

fear

patriotism

We boldly go where no man has gone before....

We root root root for the underdog...

We hate injustice

We balk at orders

We resist categorization

We are similar

We are diverse

We love

We hate

We understand each other

We shun each other

We support others who seek freedom

We are Americans

We are so very fortunate to have this land 

at this time

Great potential have we...

if only we will look beyond our differences.

Please

today 

while you feast

look beyond your differences

seek common ground

be grateful

to 

be 

Americans

smiles...

God Bless America

While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,

Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,

Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,

As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.

God Bless America,

Land that I love.

Stand beside her, and guide her

Through the night with a light from above.

From the mountains, to the prairies,

To the oceans, white with foam

God bless America, My home sweet home.

No matter who you are,

where you are from,

what your color, creed or allegiance 

if you live here....you know....

This is a great country,

we make big mistakes,

we make large errors,

we are a bunch of goofballs, at times.

But we are united in this

idea of freedom. 

Be grateful today....

smiles.

This photo is from the Official White House Flickr site.

It reminded me.....

how lonely that job must be....

how glad I am to be me....

and how fortunate we all are to have someone.....

willing to give up their life, of privacy....

and even happiness.....

and health...

for us.....

I will remind you....

I didn't vote for him....

but he is my president....

I will stand behind him...

and support him...

because I am an American.

Period.

Am I missing something?....

OK, here's the deal.....

I am patriotic.

Painfully so at times.

I well-up when they play the National anthem at ballgames,

I get choked up when I hear "I'm proud to be an American..."

and I don't even care that much for country songs

(although I have loved me a David Allan Coe song or two, but that's another story).

I can get emotional when the

commercial is flying a flag,

and don't even get me started when there are military personnel around....

I simply LOVE this country.

I would die for this country,

and I would never ask anyone else to do the same.

It is just how I am......

Now on to the meat of the matter...

I am over, completely over, these people who refuse to "give up the dog".

They are "beating a dead horse" over what they see as the loss of the nation to the other party.

I am sorry, I don't get it.

I didn't vote for him, but he is clearly My President, PERIOD.

This is how democracy works, people.

Let's all be good sports and support the fairly elected candidate,

and get over our bad attitudes, shall we?

If I am going to be an American,

I must play by the rules, and accept the majority rule....

How hard is that?

The fact is, no one man to us into this,

and no one man can get us out of this.....

We must all work together.

There is my soap box for today.

Thank you.

God Bless America.....

I voted,
I've got proof....
a sticker,
but more importantly,
I have exercised my right to my opinion in this election.
I truly want what is the best for this country.
I don't believe that anyone......... anyone, can tell me what that is..... exactly. I know that no one wants war. I don't. And I know that no one likes more taxes, I don't. And I am pretty sure that no one wants to pay more for gas, I don't .
But I am so proud to be an American.
Americans really are very different from others, maybe it is the "mixture" that we result from....
We are so idealistic, naive, perhaps dumb, but always we stick up for the underdog. It is a our Achilles heel. We are so anxious to help the one that seems to have the worst situation, that sometimes we rush in without thinking. We are basically co-dependent. We feel such a strong need to make things right, that we are like the proverbial "bull in a china shop".
When I go to Europe, I see it. Americans acting like idiots, without any knowledge of the fact. I am embarrassed for us all when I see it.
AND, we are so surprised to find that others do not like us......
We have a PR problem.
Yes, that's it..
Perhaps a small portion of our defense budget should go to PR, say 100 million. We could hire the most successful marketing firm on Wall Street. Then when we go for our holidays abroad, they would be glad to see us..........the former "ugly Americans".
My first party affiliation was "Independent". As an eighteen year old I could not stand the idea of being labeled, so I picked how I thought.
I still think that way, even though I am more practical now.
We are so blessed in this country,....
anyone who feels differently, in my opinion, hasn't traveled enough. You don't have to go to an exotic locale to see how lucky we all are.....
Just hop a plane to England, same language supposedly, and yet, they clearly see how lucky we are, they all want to come here, even when they won't admit it.
To quote an eloquent Englishman, "You know, it's gonna be alright!" (think John Lennon)
I am proud to be an American.....
call me a patriot.