Why I'm proud to be American always... but sometimes not so much.

The following video perfectly demonstrates the feelings that prompted the title of this post: "Why I'm proud to be American always... but sometimes, not so much." Note: You must watch this video to understand the rest of the post.



How great is it that, in America, we have a show like "The Daily Show" that is there not just to mock or poke fun - even though it's really, really good at doing both of those things, but to also seriously point out contradictions, hypocrisies, alert people to real news, and provoke/promote critical (as in, "thinking caps on") thinking? (Um, yeah, I found out about Sadaam Hussein being executed a week later, thanks to "The Daily Show," which was actually on hiatus when SH was killed, but, then, so was I, so I guess it all worked out... By the way, in case you hadn't heard, Sadaam Hussein was executed.) I am proud to be American because of stuff like "The Daily Show" and, while we're at it, I'll mention my love for cultural and ethnic diversity and the availability of important documents and services in multiple languages and shoes in various widths and sizes. Glenn Beck... um, yeah, not so much.

And before I get a DELUGE of emails and/or comments from non-Americans jumping on the "Look, isn't America so stupid and isn't Borat just super awesome" bandwagon, I remind you that I said that I am always proud to be American... just sometimes, not so much. However, I am definitely not at the helm of the Borat bandwagon. It's one thing when it's my people making fun of my people, it's another thing if it's other people making fun of my people.

Also, before I get a DELUGE of emails and/or comments (you know, from my masses of anonymous readers, right?) telling me how I'm so un-American (Bad, American! Bad!) for thinking Glenn Beck is an idiot, allow me to point out that standing up for ignorant/stupid people whose job allows them to have access to spreading the stupid on national television and thus further aid in creating people who go around saying things like "Honorable Representative from Minnesota Ellison, it's not that I'm saying you're a potential terrorist just because you're a Muslim... I'm only implying it," is not something that someone who loves her/his country does. A patriot should want her/his country to strive to be its best and its best should not be stupid and/or ignorant.

And, yes, to my non-American friends out there, I did say "patriot" and, no, that does not mean I'm trading in my Tokyo metro commuter pass for a 1983 Ford pick-up truck fully-loaded with gun rack and Confederate flag. It just means that I like where I'm from and what shaped me and that doesn't mean that America is any better than anywhere else, it just means I'm cool with it. And, hopefully, you're cool with where you're from and what shaped you. If you're not, then may I suggest moving to Japan or America because they're both really cool places where you can watch lots of base wrestling and sumoball.