Hey...this is my blog...I really don't know what to put in this intro box...

A lot of Americans say that other countries hate us for various reasons...our freedom...our wealth...our being number one in everything we do.

I'm sorry, but that's just bullshit.

The PATRIOT Act has taken away rights like Civil Liberties, which are guaranteed by the 9th Amendment. Torture has been defined to allow practices like waterboarding. The FISA courts grant warrants to operate surveillance on citizens without letting them know that they are.

The wage gap has been increasing. The big three auto companies are dying, and Michigan along with it. Jobs are being outsourced everyday. The national debt is in the trillions. Canada's dollar is now worth more than the US. Yeah, Canada.  A good chunk out our population is in debt up to their eyeballs.

The country is becoming retarded.  Our education isn't even ranked in the top ten.  If we picked a fight with a country like China we'd get our asses kicked if we don't use nukes. Let's see...the only thing we're probably number one in right now is obesity.

So then why do other countries hate us?  They can't us without a reason.  What did we do to piss them off?

Lets go back to the beginning of this country.  This country set a standard for the world more than 200 years ago.  That standard was enumerated in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  The standard was to change the way we think of government. 

• The government wasn't supposed to oppress their people;  it was supposed to liberate them. 
  
• The government wasn't supposed to tell you what to do for the good of the country; it was  supposed to inspire you to help your country and yourself.  
  
• The  government wasn't supposed to be a  representation of despair, slavery, and unfeeling; it was supposed  to be a symbol, a symbol of hope, freedom, and human dignity.

The world reacted to this, violently, but it eventually followed our lead.  We eventually gained status as a glorious leader of the world.  We became a symbol of freedom, a symbol of good, and a symbol of common good.

And look at us now, 200 years later.  We have strayed from our beginnings.  We have become fat and apathetic.  We have kept the symbol but lost its meaning.  We have taken our old image of ourselves and used it for fueling a war in Iraq, and because of that old image, the world believed us.  They trusted us, so they sent their people to help us.  But now they see that as a mistake.

We have dropped the standard. That golden standard said why America was the best, not just because we were Americans, but because what it used to mean to be part of the best God damn country on the face of the Earth.  That standard gave you a real right to be patriotic. 

The good news is, we only dropped the standard; we didn't throw it away.  So let's pick it back up.

[Happy Guy Fawkes Day.]