Joining the military anytime soon, Timmy? Or do you prefer to bleat about patriotism from the safe anonymity of the internet?

What is wrong is that we need more people who say, “Yes, the US has made some horrible mistakes (as have all nations) and we have done things we should deeply regret.

What is wrong with the US is a complacent population and a political establishment that tells it what it wants to hear, not what it needs to hear. The Sibel Edmonds affair Raimondo has been writing about is a case in point.

HOWEVER, this is still the greatest country on the face of the Earth.

How is “greatness” to be measured? By most quantifiable measures of human welfare (child poverty, job security, medical care, and the like), America is significantly below the industrial average. The fact that a third world dictatorship like Cuba can come so close to America in life expectancy speaks volumes about the state of affairs in the latter. The worldwide press freedom index has the US at #48. The current account balance continues to deteriorate. The median wage has barely shifted at all since 1979, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. An exact definition of “great” is notably absent here, perhaps because you wish to avoid discussing specifics.

We have only been around a little over 220 years and ( deny it all you want) the United States in her short history has done more to advance the cause of human freedom than any other nation. We have been a great force for good. If not for us half the world would either be under Nazi, Fasist, or Communist dictatorships.

If not for America’s intervention in WWI, those dictatorships would have never arisen in the first place. Not that they even had the means to fully subdue Europe, much less the world. Not only this, but America’s failure to support anti-Soviet liberation movements in the third world like the EPLF, its collaboration with the Khmer Rouge, and its systematic preference for fundamentalists like Gulbaddin Hekmatyar over democrats like Ahmed Shah Massoud during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, for which there is no excuse even in the context of America’s stated objectives, indicate either colossal incompetence or failure by design, both of which make it unfit to lead the world.

We are the city on the hill, we are the light onto the nations. We need Americans to stand up for America and push back the liberal, anti-american, multi-culturaral fanatics.

What “multicultural fanatics”? Jingoism permeates virtually every aspect of American life. I can scarcely stand to visit the country anymore, and it would take much to coax me into living there. Moreover, isn’t a key component of a free society the ability to choose which, if any, group, culture, or religion one settles in and belongs to? Isn’t pluralism an integral part of a competitive, multiparty democracy (nonwithstanding that such a thing no longer exists, if it ever truly did)? Your statement implies, if it does not say so outright, that the state should be used to circumscribe this range of options according to a fixed ideal of what it means to be “American”. Indeed, it is an inversion of the very moral foundation of government: it implies that the people should be subordinate to the state, rather than vice versa (as in a free society). It is, in short, fascism in an American guise.

And by the way Kenneth: Just one other thought: You are fond of using large words to show off your erudition.

Erudition? Hah! I’m an eighteen year old malcontent who is simply not content to exist idly suspended in an intellectual matrix of propaganda. If this is “erudition”, then it speaks to the tawdry state of regnant intellectual fashions. I was a mediocre student at school, if you must know, and I don’t fancy that I possess any special intellectual prowess. I merely apply what critical faculties I have and recognize absurdity when I see it.

Perhaps one word you should look up is “humility” or perhaps even “civility” Just because someone disagrees with you is no reason to get personal and call them names–thats a bit puerile don’t you think?,

Perhaps if you weren’t so utterly disingenuous I’d have more patience with you. If you could set aside your usual arsenal of glittering generalities and bare assertions long enough to discuss particulars, then I’d employ a more civil tone. Since, however, you are apparently incapable of even this most basic of mental tasks, I will continue to employ variations of “idiot” until intellectual rigour is obtained. To think that a prospective lawyer doesn’t understand the rules of informal logic and scientific validation is, quite frankly, frightening. I think I’d rather represent myself in court if your case is anything to go by.

What is wrong with the United States is that we don’t have enough patriots, people who truly love this country. What is wrong is that we need more people who say, “Yes, the US has made some horrible mistakes (as have all nations) and we have done things we should deeply regret. HOWEVER, this is still the greatest country on the face of the Earth. We have only been around a little over 220 years and ( deny it all you want) the United States in her short history has done more to advance the cause of human freedom than any other nation. We have been a great force for good. If not for us half the world would either be under Nazi, Fasist, or Communist dictatorships. We are the city on the hill, we are the light onto the nations. We need Americans to stand up for America and push back the liberal, anti-american, multi-culturaral fanatics.

And by the way Kenneth: Just one other thought: You are fond of using large words to show off your erudition. And you are also fond of calling other people names, like “idiots.” Perhaps one word you should look up is “humility” or perhaps even “civility” Just because someone disagrees with you is no reason to get personal and call them names–thats a bit puerile don’t you think? :)

Are you sure you’re not a cartoon character? Does R stand for Redundant?