A friend asked me "Why do you have an American flag on your car?" as if that's an insane thing for me to have.

... as if the flag is only a symbol of America the killing machine and not America the land of opportunity.

... as if being a liberal is, as the conservatives say, anti-American.

... as if loving one's country but despising nearly every aspect of its foreign and domestic policy is an impossibility.

... as if deploring what passes for discourse and popular culture means I can't love the genuine discourse and fascinating culture beneath it.

... as if I am complacent enough to live in a country that I do not fundamentally believe in.

... as if my mother and apple pie were to blame for the Blue Collar Comedy Tour.

... as if the men and women that have died doing the most horrible and ignorant thing their country could have ever asked them to do should not be recognized for the sacrifice, however unneccessary and wrong.

... as if I would allow "American" to be defined so narrowly.

... as if I would let those f#@kers in the SUVs win.

It's true. The sticker was on the car when I got it and I didn't think about any of this until she asked me. But now my dander is up. Yes I am an American and yes I have a little sticker of a flag on my car. Yes. I believe in America as it could be and should be and, on rare occasions, is.