state of the union

"well, i do not accept second-place for the united states of america."

and i just kept thinking "but many that are first shall be last, and the last first."

we have gotten ourselves into a mess.

...

it's not that i dislike obama. quite the opposite, actually. and i was impressed with many of the things he said. he's clever, and a great speaker. he knows all the right things to say, including playing on the heartstrings of all the die-hard nationalists with the verbal personification of america as some sort of star athlete: the best country in the whole wide world, with the most advances, the most profit, the most success, and the "winner!" - as if the world is some sort of competition. i know he feeds the general public what they want to hear. and if iowa quarterback ricky stanzi is an accurate representation as to the mindset of the general public, then "this is the greatest country in the world. if you don't love it, leave it. america -NUMBER 1!" oh, please.

what arrogance and self-centeredness! it's not stanzi's fault. it's his parents. and their parents. and their neighbors. and the media. and on and on. this is the kind of mindset that created racial profiling and supported guantanamo bay. this is the kind of mindset that refuses to see arabs and chinese as our brothers and sisters. this is the kind of mindset that shuts the door on the naked and jobless and poor, because it's their fault they're suffering - not ours. i am thankful to live here, don't get me wrong. i'm humbled and indebted to all that made this life possible. but the self-righteous idea of entitlement to everything is a scary road to walk down.

and this is the mess we've gotten ourselves into.