If you voice any kind of complaint about what politicians are doing, or how fellow Americans are acting, you hear the tired old comments like, "You hate America!" or "Go live in Russia (or Iraq or wherever the enemy du jour lives)!" or "Stop talking while I stuff my Freedom Fries into my overfed gullet and listen to Toby Keith while wearing my poorly-made Walmart overalls!"

While I am full of opinions as to how things can be improved, I am also proud of a lot of things, and of course I think about those things this time of year. I am going to dedicate a week to those things.

First, here's what struck me this weekend. We had our big patriotic holiday on Saturday, and we didn't see anything like this:



Even George Bush II didn't parade heavy artillery down the street. When our military marches in celebratory parades, it is more likely than not they're carrying tubas and clarinets and drums, not displaying their awesome killing abilities. I'm very proud of that.

I'm sure other countries will be quick to point out the many ways we DO pull out our military swagger and covertly or overtly threaten people. Fine. But when it comes to civic celebrations, and what makes us clap as we line up our city streets to watch a parade, it isn't a big missile or a tank. (Well, I have seen historical pieces in parades.)

So, yes: there are some areas we need to improve. But we could be a lot worse. In my family, that's a compliment, people.