Jeremiah Wright, a true American patriot

And I say this as a white guy, and on the heels of a new round of sound bites misused and abused by the corporate and rightwing media. The fact is, Righties cheer when Bush or Cheney or Rumsfeld thumb their noses at the Press, or chop them down with a witty barb, or simply refuse to answer questions posed to them by, a  little sadly, the only voice the American people still have with public officials. They were nearly aroused over Bush's refusal to bow to the will of the American people over the war, torture and the economy. I mean, I can see their point. Why should a President have to account to the American people. After all, he is the decider, and the constitution is merely a set of pretty words. How dare the American people believe the President should answer a question concerning the future of the nation, and the lives of thousands or millions from the people. After all, what we were really electing these last few decades weren't tentative and temporary managers, but demagogues to some bizarre America cult

In this cult America makes no mistakes. It is a perfect place where the rich, white famous and flabby can do as they please while bludgeoning critics with the flag and the bible. Bridges and rail lines aren't rusting and in desperate need of repair. Roads aren't crumbling, and , as we've all been told by white men, racism is over! Yippee! That news will come as welcome relief to black folks, to Muslims, women homosexuals, Native Americans and other minorities. Folks nearing retirement, and those of us still a few decades away no longer have to worry about our social security. And, oh, that health care problem-solved.

The fact is there are problems with the country, and if they are going to be fixed what is required are more Rev. Wrights, who are passionate enough about their homeland to call it to task when it fails in hopes that tomorrow it will be a better place. 'Course, maybe you just want the good news, the happy news, because that will fix things. Right?

Real Americans, the ones who will fix this country, repair the infrastructure, wrestle it back from the corporations and elites, and rebuild what graft, and greed have pulled down are those who don't cling to some one-sided polly-anna vision of the country. They are men like Jeremiah Wright with the intestinal fortitude to squarely and honestly tackle the hard questions. They are men I'd be proud to fight along side and to have as a neighbor. Men like Jeremiah Wright, enjoying their gid given and unalienable right to speak their hearts and minds are why I am proud to be, despite all her problems, an American.