Patriotism...

I love The United States of America. I am a US citizen, I was born here and I will probably die here. I am an Eagle Scout and I was a Cub Scout before that. I go to church most Sundays and I pray daily. I am an American. The feelings of true patriotism that I feel have nothing to do with political parties or which candidate I am inclined to like this week. True Patriotism comes from a sense of obligation to the preservation of values that this Nation was founded on. These are not values that are either Republican or Democrat they are American. These are the values that brought immigrants from Europe in the nineteenth century through today to seek a better life for them and their families. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These are things that we all desire. They are values that Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers knew that all people should enjoy. Not just those who agree with the majority politically. "No party or political philosophy has a monopoly on patriotism" -Source

I love America because you can be in the minority or in the majority and you still have a voice. No one silences you when you disagree with the elected government. If you don't like something you can effect change in your community, state and nation through the electoral process.

As we celebrate Independence day and think of those who have gone before and the challenges they faced to provide for us what we have let us remember that we are ALL part of the great experiment called The United States of America. How things are now is not how they will be in fifty years and things today are not as they were fifty years ago. Ours is a living, breathing, growing democracy; who learns at every opportunity how to better meet the needs of all our desires for freedom.