One of the most irritating things about the extremist rhetoric is the very un-American sentiment of "love it or leave it"--the essence of our republic is that public discussion is not only tolerated, it is encouraged. We are modeled on the classical Greek civilization that flourished in Athens at the time of Socrates. In that time it was the obligation of every Greek citizen to be engaged in the running of their country, and to work towards solutions that encompassed the values and ideals of all citizens.
That is not the America of the 21st century. Unfortunately, what we have re-emerging now is more a model of who has the deepest pocket. That is the voice that is heard loudest, and it is remarkably effective. I marvel at their ability to get the people who are least likely to personally benefit, the people who can in no way fund their own society's infrastructure, to vote for politicians and policies that benefit those that are rich but few in number.
I accept all that as inevitable. What I do not accept is that we who oppose that, who believe in social justice, that we are unpatriotic. The founding fathers believed in social justice. The lack of it fueled their revolution. They didn't think that the one with the most money should continue to make those less fortunate pay and pay again. They advocated for a transparent and open system, with basic rights for all, and the ability to add to those rights as values shifted. So I was happy to see patriotism on display at the rally last Saturday. We love our country. We believe in it's people. The politicians are not serving the public, and the media is not either. But that doesn't mean we don't love the nation we live in.
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