Since this was a topic of another thread, I thought I'd post some counter thoughts here. Being an American isn't waving the flag or blubbering like a two year old when a sappy Lee Greenwood song is played. Those things are unimportant. And they are dangerous, because there are some people who think that's all it takes. They are wrong. America requires participation, and that participation isn't always easy. Aaron Sorkin was prescient when he wrote 'The American President'. He imagined Donald Trump long before Trump came into office, and he imagined what those Trump supporters would believe. He was spot on, and he said it much more eloquently than I can.
"For the last couple of months, Senator Rumson has suggested that being president of this country was, to a certain extent, about character, and although I have not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I've been here three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation: Being president of this country is *entirely* about character.
For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is, why aren't you, Bob? Now, this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? If you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a few hours ago.
America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free".
I've known Bob Rumson for years, and I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's problem is that he can't sell it! We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character. And wave an old photo of the President's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism and you tell them, she's to blame for their lot in life, and you go on television and you call her a whore. "
Just substitute 'Rumson' with 'Trump'. Spot on. And it hits the target with our new posters here as well.
We are no longer the greatest country in the world. We are a divided country on the brink of losing our democracy to a demagogue and a cult leader. We have an entire political party that is lying to the American People and committing treasonous acts on a daily basis. We are a country where half of the population are so selfish and stupid that they have chosen to prolong a pandemic to score points against their political enemies. We are also on the brink of a default. We are now a country made up of cult followers and tribal, primal thinkers. That is not great. That is petty, selfish and stupid.
Restoring this country will not be easy, and the Trump Cult does not deserve a seat at the table. Time to get serious.
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechtheamericanpresident.html
"For the last couple of months, Senator Rumson has suggested that being president of this country was, to a certain extent, about character, and although I have not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I've been here three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation: Being president of this country is *entirely* about character.
For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is, why aren't you, Bob? Now, this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? If you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a few hours ago.
America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free".
I've known Bob Rumson for years, and I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's problem is that he can't sell it! We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character. And wave an old photo of the President's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism and you tell them, she's to blame for their lot in life, and you go on television and you call her a whore. "
Just substitute 'Rumson' with 'Trump'. Spot on. And it hits the target with our new posters here as well.
We are no longer the greatest country in the world. We are a divided country on the brink of losing our democracy to a demagogue and a cult leader. We have an entire political party that is lying to the American People and committing treasonous acts on a daily basis. We are a country where half of the population are so selfish and stupid that they have chosen to prolong a pandemic to score points against their political enemies. We are also on the brink of a default. We are now a country made up of cult followers and tribal, primal thinkers. That is not great. That is petty, selfish and stupid.
Restoring this country will not be easy, and the Trump Cult does not deserve a seat at the table. Time to get serious.
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechtheamericanpresident.html