Proud To Be An American?

There's been a whole lot of American pride going on lately. I can't turn on the radio, tv, or even look at a social networking site without hearing "God Bless America". There's been rallies and group pride show offs. It seems like every college campus is showing coverage of a new mess of students wearing red, white, and blue screaming some unitelligent gibberish about how great our country is. I went into town today, where a Marine base is located, half expecting to see our colors everywhere. I was more than a little shocked that the only difference was horrible traffic.

Why is everyone suddenly so gung ho about being American? I'm sure you've already heard if you live here, but if you're one of my readers from other countries, I'll share. Osama Bin Laden has been killed. A mission was carried out that actually killed him. Ten years after the attacks on this country, the ring leader of the terrorist group responsible is no more. However to me, it seems like such an empty victory. Yes, the man who organized 9/11 which killed so many of our citizens has been murdered himself. But he wasn't just one person acting against this country, he was just the leader. So what will stop the next in line from launching another attack? Most organizations don't die out if their leader is dead, they pick a new leader.

I understand that most of our country needs this right now. The South has seen so much destruction in these last weeks due to the tornados. I saw some of this damage myself today driving through some back roads. My heart sincerely goes out to those affected. So many houses were just gone. So many lives were ruined, I can't help but sympathize. With all of that in mind, I completely and totally understand why this is so important to them. It's something big and good after all the heartbreak. Patriotism is something to cling to, something to attempt to fix the damage of their psyches.