Love our country, but not proud of it in its current state. I think too many people conflate the two. The people who can critically examine our flaws and want to fix them are better Americans than any flag-wavers who mechanically sing along to Lee Greenwood and turn a blind eye to its shortcomings.
My favorite kind of patriots are the patriots that love America so damn much that they need to set off fireworks at 2:16AM on July 3rd. The best of us, no doubt.
my favorites are the ones who are anti legalization of marijuana but will get thc supplements to calm the nerves of their dogs who freak out over fireworks.
I will use this day to reflect on the good and bad things this country has done, is doing, and will continue to do.
The 4th used to be my second favorite holiday, after Christmas. Today, it is a time that I feel ashamed about how we treat one another. There’s a sense of loss regarding my childlike feelings towards the holiday, but also an appreciation that I don’t blindly glorify this countries’ accomplishments, without regretting and attempting (in my own small and limited way) to atone for its sins and failures.
I'm going to the zoo with some friends, we're going to eat some food and play board games after that. We'll probably just try to ignore society crumbling because we talk about that every day. Have a "keep the immigrants, deport the racists" tshirt to hopefully get some dirty looks from the riffraff. /badass
The uber patriot folks, the ones who want to be the gatekeepers of patriotism without a hint of reflection are the ones keeping this country from moving forward. How do you feel about their twins though? The ones who think the worst of this country at every turn but also do not reflect on its positives?
Also feels like flying the American flag or wearing red white and blue signifies you’re MAGA. Can’t even proudly rock this anymore unfortunately
Any lack of nuance is counterproductive; very few things in this world are wholly one thing or the other. The promise of what America can be is not what it is or has been, but if we don’t keep struggling, fighting, and pushing to make it happen, then every good step forward made over the last 250+ years (and in spite of what some will say, they have been made) has been for nothing.
Did a 4th of July run this morning that was sponsored by our local Fleet Feet. We pulled up and tons of people were rocking the red, white, and blue. A few flags, American capes, socks, etc. I asked my wife if we somehow had joined a freedom run or something. When we were done, a few people were standing around talking. I introduced myself to some people my wife knows, and one of them says, “hey, let’s go Brandon!” after I told him my name. I just said “I don’t like that stuff, but ok”. Felt a little like a dickhead, but oh well. To devine ‘s point, the flag has been co-opted by MAGA assholes.
Ill smoke a joint and light off a parachute firework for Easy Company, they were pretty positive Americans.
Is it exclusively MAGA that attempt this or has it entered dad joke territory where you just know it's coming upon intro pretty much every time?
A lot of people had flags last night - probably like 50% of them were the Pride American flag though so patriotic but really pissed about a lot going on in this country.
Injecting politics into conversation *three seconds* into meeting someone is an obvious sign of psychosis.
That’s what my wife and I talked about. He may have just been joking but i felt if you leave those people unchecked, it just gives them the go ahead to do it again.
Yea I'm sure you can typically read whether they're MAGA or just nerds at this point given how much you've had to encounter this. Very valid point though that they're just going to keep going unless you say something.
Pretty high up there on the ‘Merica scale is testing positive for Covid on the Fourth of July after 2.5 years of doing the right things.
Strangers/acquaintances- exclusively MAGA. Had a few friends do it trying to be funny and I nixed it real fast.
I’m not going to let these facists ruin America for me. One way to protect the American flag from being co-opted by the racists is to make sure they aren’t the only ones using it.
right there with you. would really love to be using the smoker and drinking some beers instead of quarantining.
Celebrating not only seems stupid, but also dangerous. I'm setting the mass shooting over/under at 3 today.
Has under armour always been the brand of chuds? I swear every respect the troops/freedom isn’t free/stupid patriotism shirt I’ve seen this weekend is UA.
THEBLUERAIDER your posts makes it sound like you were surprised to see runners wearing red white and blue at a 4th of July race