Posted by
Bullpen on Monday, February 18, 2008 7:22:51 PM
Last summer I read a memoir by a man named John Bul Dau called God Grew Tired of Us. When he was a boy he trekked through Sudan when a civil war tore his country and his village apart. He was beaten by radical Muslim soldiers and was constantly shot at. He walked through a hell unimaginable to most of us until he could walk no longer. He buried people his friends until he became numb to death. He nearly starved and died of thirst time and time again only to be saved by the grace of God. Then by that same grace, he worked himself hard enough to come to the United States. Once he got here he recognized our nation’s greatness because he had seen the other side. The people of this country welcomed him with open arms. It was like a real life Shawkshank Redemption. Every single day we taste freedoms so sweet that some have taken it for granted.
Why do I tell you this? Well I just checked the Drudge Report and saw that Michelle Obama was finally really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life. Well that’s good. Living a privileged life full of opportunity must have been really difficult for her. I’m glad she’s made it through that to a point where she can finally be proud of the United States.
Perhaps she’s never been proud of us because we don’t commit genocides. Perhaps she has been disgusted by our nation because we promote human rights and are the most generous nation on the earth. Perhaps she isn’t proud because we fight wars not to conquer, but to liberate. Perhaps that whole freedom of speech thing just threw her off the Patriotic track. Perhaps having more equality amongst different types of peoples than anywhere else in the world is what was holding her back from being proud all of these years.
Liberals always have a tough time understanding why everyone is not as miserable as they are. Their power derives from capitalizing on the emotions and the temporary minimal problems of people‘s lives. I’d like to believe the rest of us understand how great our nation truly is and how damn fortunate we are to be able to live as we see fit in this great nation under God.
Liberals might say that it is another example of ignorance being bliss. But who is really being ignorant here?
Unlike Mrs. Obama, I have been proud of my country every day. So has Mr. Dau. But Mrs. Obama and I do have something in common. We will likely never feel the incredible sense of wonder and joy that Mr. Dau felt when he did something that Americans do every day; walk through the aisles a grocery store. But I will never forget how lucky I am to have been born in a country where I never will feel that.