[StBernard] Proud to be an American

[Westley Annis]

Friends - 

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly
stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was
astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years."  While Mark Twain is
widely credited with this pithy observation, I have seen it firsthand in my
own life.  I find myself saying things to my three young children I promised
I would never say, and I am becoming more and more like my father every day.
Some recent examples include, "As long as you are living in my house, you
will live by my rules;" "I am your father, that's why;" "This family is not
a democracy;"  "Because I said so;" "When you have your own children, you
can do whatever you want;" etc.  I think the bumper sticker is right; God
gives us children in part as revenge for everything we did to our parents.

My father had three favorite sayings that drove my brother and me crazy.
First, he would tell us at the dinner table, "Be grateful you have food and
eat your vegetables, because there are starving children in China."  I never
understood the point of this as a child.  I wanted to ship them my
vegetables so we would both be happier.

Second, he would criticize whatever test papers or report cards we brought
home.  No grade was ever good enough, and doing better than your friends
provided no relief.  "If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump
off a bridge?"  I never understood what that had to do with my grades, but
he would say it in a way that indicated the conversation was done.

Third, Dad would tell us seemingly every day, "Give thanks to God that you
were born in America, the greatest country in the history of the world."  I
would roll my eyes and wonder where else I would be born.  All my friends at
school were American, and it wasn't like we had a choice.  I understand now
what he was trying to teach us.  In contrast with Michelle Obama, who said
in Wisconsin in 2008, "for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my
country," I've been proud of my country every day of my life, as we say down
here -- proud to be American by birth and Louisianian by the grace of God!

I don't question the President's or First Lady's patriotism, but I am struck
by this proud and confident couple's incongruous humility on behalf of
America.  Whereas he has no doubt "we are the ones we have been waiting
for," and he makes no apologies for a failed and costly stimulus bill or
other expansions of government spending, power, and debt, the President is
quite ready to apologize for America.  You get the sense he is especially
embarrassed of those of us Americans "clinging to our guns and religion,"
afraid we might use the wrong fork when our more sophisticated European
elders and their fellow travelers from elite American universities and
editorial boards visit.  President Obama in 2009 in France said, "I believe
in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in
British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism."

President Obama is certainly not alone among liberal thinkers in his
humility towards American exceptionalism and his admiration for all things
European, but he is certainly the first President since Jimmy Carter to
espouse such views.  (I want the umpire to be neutral, but I kind of expect
my son's coach to be rooting for our team.)  His self-declaration as a
"fellow citizen of the world" certainly makes his administration's policies
easier to understand. (By the way, my passport says I am an American, my
driver's license says I am a Louisianian, and my attitude says "Thank God
for both."  I guess I didn't qualify for the secret decoder ring that
proclaims one a citizen of the world, whatever that means in terms of
taxation, immigration, legal, and regulatory policies.)  

For example, the President is supporting more off-shore oil and gas
production, creating new good paying jobs, and even providing $2 billion in
federal assistance through the Export-Import Bank.  Those jobs happen to be
in Brazil, as President Obama promised them last year "we want to be one of
your best customers."

I guess it was my mistake for assuming that when President Obama talks about
creating jobs and producing more energy, he meant he would do so here at
home in the United States where he is President.  I did not realize that as
a "citizen of the world," he was talking about creating jobs overseas.  And
bravo for your 2008 promise that "under my plan of a cap and trade system,
electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."  That can only help create
even more jobs overseas.

-Bobby