Obama On Patriotism - A Moving And Great Speech

I listened to the speech Barack Obama made in Independence, Missouri today. Once again he delivered a great piece of oratory. It was a great speech for the week of July 4th and an even better one for a candidate that has been wrongly accused of being unpatriotic because he didn't wear a cheezy flag lapel pin.

This is one of my favorite passages from the speech.

I believe those who attack America's flaws without acknowledging the singular greatness of our ideals, and their proven capacity to inspire a better world, do not truly understand America.

Of course, precisely because America isn't perfect, precisely because our ideals constantly demand more from us, patriotism can never be defined as loyalty to any particular leader or government or policy. As Mark Twain, that greatest of American satirists and proud son of Missouri, once wrote, "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." We may hope that our leaders and our government stand up for our ideals, and there are many times in our history when that's occurred. But when our laws, our leaders or our government are out of alignment with our ideals, then the dissent of ordinary Americans may prove to be one of the truest expression of patriotism.

Read the entire speech here.