Long Drive Home and the Fourth of July

I had a long drive home from work yesterday (due to holiday traffic) with my friend who is a member of the Air Force Reserves.  He was born in Panama and came to the U.S. as a young adult, and has served in both the Air Force and Army.  He used to say, “I will fight for your country, Dragon (his nickname for me).”  Now he can say he will fight for OUR country as he gained his citizenship a few years back.  We got to talking about 45 and how we’ve become disappointed with this country as, let’s face it, almost half this country stands by this President who reflects the worst of our history of racism and misogyny.  (See my previous posts if you want to find out why I think he and many of his followers are racist and misogynistic.)

It is the Fourth of July and the Con n Chat has decided to have a military parade.  I won’t be watching although, to be honest, I don’t generally watch parades unless I’m there in person.  I remember fondly times I’ve gone to the one in Downtown Fairfield, and even participated with my Martial Arts school (instructor is a Marine).  That was truly a bipartisan celebration.  

When this military parade was first discussed, some of my military and former military friends said that, instead of doing what they normally do on the fourth, several military members would now have to work and put this huge parade together... and that’s kind of a bummer.  45 claims it’s to honor the military but we all know it’s about his ego.  As my friend said, 45 used his privilege to dodge the draft with his bone spurs and never served in the military.  He really is a baby and it’s fitting that the Baby Trump balloon will make an appearance (although not within his sight).  Anyway, I’m not going to watch as it would only serve to annoy me.

My friend also scoffed at how GOP call Democrats elitists and yet the GOP elected this jacka$$.  Do people really not know how he was given money from his father, how often he claimed bankruptcy, how he dodged the draft? He’s the picture of elitism and privilege.  

Lately I’ve been seeing posts on FB about how Americans used to respect the President, the police, the flag, etc.  But what they don’t mention is that this country has historically treated POC poorly, especially the African-Americans.  And folks act as if it STILL doesn’t happen.  I understand/realize that not all Police are bad, but there are still too many Police killings of unarmed Black people.  This is not to mention how Blacks and POC are incarcerated for longer periods than Whites for like crimes.  And how most Blacks were never given the 40 Acres and Mule they were promised, so they were economically disadvantaged from the outset, and the wage gaps continue to increase. 

My friend and I also discussed how the electoral college really is obsolete, and how the GOP are gerrymandering to keep their party in power.  I firmly believe in one person, one vote.  When I was an Independent Voter, I used to wonder what was the use of my voting in California if the Democrat will win anyway?  Why should somebody in the the country get more say than a person who lives in a city?  A citizen is a citizen, and there should be no difference what race, gender, location, party affiliation, etc they are.  We do have the technology to count votes but, of course, those privileged people want to keep that privilege through the electoral college and gerrymandering.

Being patriotic is more than glorifying an imperfect nation, its President and its symbols (anthem, flag).  Being patriotic is wanting to make the country the best it can be and not settling for injustices.  The founding fathers all probably thought they were better than the slaves they owned and weren’t perfect... but their ideals of equality, justice and religious freedom have always been something to strive for.  

The original pledge of allegiance did not say “under God” and there’s supposed to be a separation between church and state.  God also granted humans Free Will and didn’t intend to force people to seek Him.  He wanted Christians to treat others with love and compassion, no matter their background.  It was the Good Samaritan who portrayed this kind of love that Jesus exemplified.  Unfortunately, U.S. Christianity is dying because seekers and non-believers see how the “Religious Right” (GOP/Senate/McConnell/Trump/etc) are hiding behind a flag and military might so that they can hold onto the country and privilege many were given just by their European ethnicity.