I love this country. I choose to say so now because of the HBO presentation of John Adams.
Part one of the presentation allowed me to mentally wander through the teachings of my parents, teachers and numerous readings and visits of historical America. It is a wonderful roam to make. The inspiration garnered from the echoing walls of Independence Hall, Valley Forge, Yorktown and Williamsburg is an inspiration that lifts one's life.
Franklin's statement "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately" is at the core of the birth of our nation. That John Adams believed it possible that God might not shine his grace on the endeavor, but saw the wondrous rays of hope in freedom that played to the hopeful self doubt on the Founders.
Members of my family have been involved in every conflict since Europeans came to America, sometimes on both sides such as the Revolution and the Civil War. Ironically some of those who fought the British lost everything only to see their Tory relatives slink off to Britain with the family silver and everything else. In the Civil War, some, such as my great grandfather with the VA 8th, were wounded, lost their entire estate to carpetbaggers (aka, scum of the earth) and still recovered with the help of their cousins up north.
The bond that all shared was the belief in and love of their country. This may not be a central part of the political dialogue of today, but it it always at the core of how I think.
