Patriotism

When a man and a woman are married, their relationship will only be as good as the effort they are willing to put into it. They may say they love each other; however, what do their actions show? Neither individual is perfect, and some imperfections can be more obvious than others. If either or both individuals focus on the other’s imperfections more than the things that draw them to the other, the relationship will be rocky at best. However, if both individuals focus on what makes the other so special to them, there will be fewer storms in their marriage.

The United States of America was a result of the shedding of blood, hard-fault battles, and the victory of a war for rights against the British Kingdom. Americans benefit every day from the sacrifices of those who fought for our freedom and then took the time and effort to define the best form of government that has ever been tried in world history. It was not perfect on the day it became law, and it is not perfect today, but that is the beauty of how good the design was in 1789 when The United States Constitution became law. The Constitution defines the process of how changes can be made and the responsibilities of each branch of the government.  It also prevents changes that violate our rights as individual citizens.

To protect the citizens from government overreach, The Bill of Rights became part of the Constitution in 1791 when ratified by all the states. The founders made it clear that those rights are provided by God and not from whatever group of electors in each election cycle. Since that time, thousands of laws implemented dealing with every aspect of the lives of Americans. Some of those laws and/or regulations do not agree with the US Constitution and have been overturned by the Supreme Court.

I do not think anyone knows how many people are in the United States on any given day or how many US citizens are alive today. We have millions that have come to America through legal means and some have become US citizens through the defined process. We have visitors and students who have come in through legal means. We have millions that have come into America illegally or that came in through legal channels but have remained in this country when they were required to return to their home country.

Rights and benefits afforded to US citizens are not automatically granted to those visiting this country or those illegally in this country. Most Americans over 50 who grew up here were taught about American history and civics. They learned the Pledge of Allegiance and the USA National Anthem. The vast majority of all of those in America on any given day follow US laws and the laws of the state they are in as well as city laws and ordinances.

A sizable percentage of the laws were written to deal with those few who refuse to follow the laws that were designed to protect our rights. Most police actions are required to manage the few who do not respect the laws or other people. Freedom of speech protects a person’s right to say what they wish, even if someone does not agree. However, this does not allow you to lie while under oath in a court, nor does that allow you to spray paint anything on your neighbor’s property.

To many of us in America, the word patriotism describes the feeling we have, not for the land that makes up the United States of America, but rather what our country stands for and the ideals of those who gave so much to make it possible. The lives of tens of thousands of men and women who have fought to keep those ideals alive for almost 250 years. All the many freedoms and benefits that we share are not available in many countries around the world today. We respect the American flag and that it is a symbol of a country with the courage to do the right thing no matter if it stands alone. It represents a history of helping other countries around the world that share our ideals of freedom.

To those who put their efforts into condemning America and damaging symbols of our history, patriotism is what they hate most. They violate the laws and damage property at will and do nothing to help anyone or the country that protects their rights. They have no visible means to live on but also seem to be at each riot or “peaceful demonstration”. They are not aware that they are useful idiots paid to attack the very freedoms that they benefit from.

I am proud of my patriotism for The United States of America and the full support and respect of the US Constitution including the Bill of Rights. July 4^th is a reminder of the courage demonstrated on July 4, 1776. May our courage continue through the generations in the future.