Self Evident

Tonight while I watched the Dems and Repubs both claim victory and spin out the VP debate until it was almost unrecognizable, I thought to myself: Self, we American's have lost sight of what a great country this is. We are all so very busy saying that the people with the opposite view are wrong. Or stupid, which just makes me want to rip my hair out. Disagreeing doesn't make me stupid, it makes me different. Respecting our differences is the first step to working together as a nation to fix the problems that lie before us. No one person or party or policy is responsible for the ills of America right now, it was a group effort. Tonight on Jay Leno, Dennis Miller said "We can all stand to pick a president and get behind him" and I could not agree more. No matter who wins - and I am still undecided - this practice of ripping each other apart because we are different has got to go. But I digress.

So this evening I thought to myself: Self, let's look up some great American quotes. Because I like quotes, and it's my blog. There are a lot to pick from because we are incredibly blessed to live in such a promised land but here are a few of my favorites:

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. ~Abraham Lincoln

When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect. ~Adlai Stevenson

The cement of this union is the heart-blood of every American. ~Thomas Jefferson

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ~ The Declaration of Independance

This, then, is the state of the union: free and restless, growing and full of hope. So it was in the beginning. So it shall always be, while God is willing, and we are strong enough to keep the faith. ~ Lyndon B. Johnson

Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong. ~ James Bryce

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

So let us begin anew - remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belabouring those problems which divide us. ~ John F. Kennedy

I see America, not in the setting sun of a black night of despair ahead of us, I see America in the crimson light of a rising sun fresh from the burning, creative hand of God. I see great days ahead, great days possible to men and women of will and vision. ~ Carl Sandburg

There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. ~ Bill Clinton

America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens. ~ George W. Bush