"...and let me tell you something, for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country..."- Michelle Obama, February 18, 2008.
Michelle Obama was born in January, 1964. She graduated from high school in 1981, and she's only now really proud of her country. I'm only a little more than a year older than her, so I think I have much the same frame of reference, but apparently she and I haven't lived in the same country.
I remember 1980 and being proud to be an American the day that the United States hockey team beat the Soviets. I can still see Jim Craig wrapped in the American flag. Apparently, that memory didn't evoke the same emotion in 16 year old Michelle Robinson from Chicago.
Also, in 1980, how could anyone hear one of Ronald Reagan's speeches and not be proud to be an American? Reagan's speeches were all about the greatness of America and her people. Reagan truly saw the United States as that "shining city on a hill". Michelle Robinson Obama, though, is a liberal. THAT is the difference between our memories and our pride.
Liberals don't see America as the shining city. They don't see America as great. They don't see her as exceptional. Liberals see America as a land of corporate greed, racism, sexism. Liberals see America as the tool of corporate globalists who exist to oppress Third World countries.
Liberals were aghast when Reagan called the Soviet Union the evil empire. Most Americans, though, nodded in agreement with the President. Liberals said "who does he think he is?" When Reagan demanded "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
I didn't intend for this screed to be about Ronald Reagan, but it's fitting that is has become so. No one in my lifetime embodied pride in America and a positive outlook for his nation the way our 40th President did. Reagan wasn't a Pollyanna that saw America as perfect and without flaws, but he sure didn't let her warts hide her beauty.
Liberals like Michelle Obama, see the warts, pick at the warts and deny that there is any redeeming quality in this nation. I would love to sit down with Mrs. Obama and ask her what she felt when she saw the following:
1981- Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court.
1983- Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
1989- Berlin Wall falls.
1991- The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
Ronald Reagan saw optimism and inspiration when he looked out over this country. When we saw America through his eyes, it only confirmed the pride we already felt in this nation. There was no reason to be trapped in a malaise. We were Americans.
No other nation on the planet has used its power for good the way the United States has. No other nation has championed the cause of freedom and individual liberty the way the United States has. No other nation has sought to break the chains of bondage throughout the world the way the United States has. None of this has made Michelle Obama "really proud", though.
Why would anyone want to be around a liberal, let alone vote for one?
