It's time we start acting like Americans again.
This is my mantra. It is a quote from Hillary Clinton during one of the debates. While her podium-mates were trotting out tired campaign slogans and blowing hot air, Hillary said what needed to be said. It's time we start acting like Americans again.
We have gone from a nation of builders to a nation of barons. The greatest projects are in our rear-view mirror, have been undertaken by generations past- our forefathers gave us Social Security, defeated the Nazis, built our highways, and collapsed the Soviet Union. In recent memory, we have been aiming lower and lower with each passing year, finally electing a man we would like to have a beer with, except we actually can't, because that would be against one or all of the twelve steps.
My fellow Americans, we have strayed from the straight-and-narrow. We forgot our roots whilst we were sending our jobs overseas and tightening our belts, while we were waging war without a plan, putting our faith in unscrupulous men and neglecting the American Dream.
Fear not, for salvation is at hand. The road to providence is clearly marked. To start on this road, just start acting like Americans again.
You are under the mistaken impression that our elected government has a grand plan for this nation. For better or for worse, there is no bold vision among these men and women who govern; even the President himself is afflicted by a terrible apathy that threatens the very fibre of America. Make no mistake, this nation can endure as it has endured. But it need not simply endure. Let us lift ourselves up from our present calamity and rebuild an America we can all be proud of.
It's time we start acting like Americans again. Repeat that line to yourself again and revel in its boldness and simplicity. It's time we start acting like Americans again. It just makes so much sense. It is so clear, concise, and beautiful a statement that I would be proud to vote for any candidate who would build her campaign on that premise.
The truth is we haven't been very good Americans these past few years. We've been polarized and extreme. We believe the world is going to end: some of us believe that Global Warming will kill us all within a generation, while others prefer to wait for the Rapture. We are a culture flirting with death, a culture that has forgotten how to build great things.
I do not blame Dick Cheney or Al Gore. They are but extensions of our national paranoia. But remember, we're going to start acting like Americans again.
Every time I read that statement, a chill is sent down my spine. Imagine an America where our government embraces reality and says, yes, there is Global Warming. Yes, the terrorists are after us. Yes, we've been exporting our middle class and it hurts. And instead of retreating back into its Platonic cave, our leadership stands up and fights the good fight. Because when America puts her weight behind something, she will always prevail. Every single time.
As a nation of God-fearing citizens, we believe in redemption and forgiveness. Bush's America is a mix between a Prodigal Son and an absent father, and it hurt us. We are not going to retaliate. We are not going to divide this country any more than it is already split. We are going to forgive our failed leaders, and promise ourselves to never again let this happen.
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