Bob Geiger's not having a happy Indendence Day, but perhaps he catches the spirit of the Patriot - a person who cares so deeply about their country that both its pride and its shame are theirs as well. The whole thing is worth a read, but here's an excerpt:

George W. Bush has taken our country and made us despised throughout the world, ruined our global reputation in a way that may take a generation to salvage and made us far less safe in a dangerous world. Indeed, he has used our nation's wealth and power to make the world a more dangerous place.

His administration has also found a way to diminish a great holiday like our Independence Day, to make us feel less like proudly waving our flag and to even cause many like me, who have worn our country's uniform, to wonder what the hell it was for.

And, for that, every American who voted for Bush, should take time this July Fourth to perform a truly patriotic act and be profoundly ashamed.

Taylor Marsh has a few words about the rule of law, which start with this:

America wakes up in bondage today.

There's no other way to see it. A president and vice president have taken hold of the helm of this country and are dictating by fiat the very freedom and air that people are allowed to breathe, while holding themselves and their own above the law. We are led by the most un-American of men. Let there be no doubt. But in the wake of inaction and a Congress only equipped to hurl words, the question remains what will be done about it?

The Left Coaster points out that the ultimate power in the US isn't who you probably think it is...

The Constitution, the supreme law of the United States, begins with these words:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
- Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America.

When we have our civics or government classes in school, we're only told that there are three branches of government: The executive, the legislative, and the judicial.

This, folks, is a lie. An incredible and fantastic fabrication which has been fomented and distributed in order to weaken our defenses and to facilitate the very situation of internal subversion we as a nation face today.

Read the words again:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Every one of the branches of government that we are taught about in school is established and defined by the Constitution. The Constitution is itself a creation of the people of the United States: We the People of the United States, ... do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

This makes the people of this nation the ultimate governing authority in these United States. Not the fascist-Republican-dominated Congress. Not Nino Scalia's Stupor-eme Court jesters. Not George Warmonger Bu$h.

We. The People. We are the ultimate authority.

Christy at FDL points out what I think is the key thing every democratic nation must remember. "My country right of wrong" is often taken to mean you should support your country when it's wrong, but the original quote was this:

(Carl Schurtz: "My country; and my country is the great American Republic. My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right. ...")

That's real patriotism, and so is this from Christy:

The Founders of this nation understood that we were not perfect at the inception of the country, but that it was the striving toward a better society, always pushing forward toward a greater good despite whatever setbacks or poor choices in the moment were made, that brought us closer to a “more perfect union.” So long as a group of dedicated patriots were willing to stand for freedom, justice and liberty, the heart of the nation’s principles would not fade.

We must be those patriots today, for the sake of the nation.

Where we see injustice, we must stand and fight it. Where we see a law that needs to be changed, we must stand and demand that change, and truly do the work necessary to make it happen. Where we see a need to lift up our fellow man, we must band together to do that, whatever it may take. Because we owe it to ourselves and to future generations to live up to the better angels of our natures — and to require that those elected to represent us do the same.

America is a great gift, and being born American or made American is a great gift that each of our American readers received. But like most things worth having, it comes with responsibilities and it is held in trust for the generations to come. For all my gloom and doom on certain days, I do think that America has within it - within Americans, what it takes to renew itself.