Why I'm Celebrating The Fourth of July

Happy Birthday, America. Sorry the guy throwing your party is so lame.

In early 2017, on a frigid February morning, I attended a protest against Trump's first Muslim ban.

As the speakers cycled through their agenda, a man walked over to join the crowd. He stood off to the side and near the back. I couldn't see his face because we were all bundled up, but he was carrying a large U.S. flag on a pole that was almost comically tall.

The man wasn't acting like a counter-protester, just standing silently and listening, but I assumed him to be one anyway. So I snaked my way through the gathered throng, fully intent on distracting if not de-escalating.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered the visitor was someone I knew. A friend. A very smart person.

"Warren," I said, gesturing to the flagpole. "What's the deal with...I mean, why?"

I've never forgotten his next words.

"Why not? They don't own Old Glory."

I think about that conversation sometimes. It was a moment that spotlighted my biases and made me realize how much I had bought into the right-wing narrative that they own the concept of patriotism.

But they don't.

Nationalism? That's a different story. They own that completely.

If you're not familiar with the difference between the terms, I encourage you to read up on it. I will simply say that it's a lot like the difference between love and infatuation. It's the difference between caring enough about your alcoholic uncle to get him the hell that he needs...or enabling him.

Dry-humping an American flag in front of a crowd of your most vicious, cheering supporters? Refusing to equally acknowledge the great and terrible parts of our history? Rigging your truck to blow black smoke in order to trigger the libs?

None of that has a damn thing to do with patriotism. It's nationalism.

There are 2 similar quotes, both from Edward Snowden, that speak to how I define patriotism.

"You're not patriotic just because you back whoever's in power today or their policies. You're patriotic when you work to improve the lives of the people of your country, your community and your family."

"Being a patriot doesn't mean prioritizing service to government above all else. Being a patriot means knowing when to protect your country, knowing when to protect your Constitution, knowing when to protect your countrymen, from the violations of and encroachments of adversaries. And those adversaries don't have to be foreign countries."

So all of that is to say...

I am celebrating the Fourth of July this year.

I am celebrating America 250.

I am embarrassed as hell by the rogue's gallery of malicious jokers who represent us on the world stage...

But I am also proud to be an American.

So I understand if you aren't celebrating this holiday weekend. We are living through a historic moment and mostly for bad reasons. I get that and fully respect it.

But, should you need to hear them again, I'll close by reminding you of the words spoken to me by an old friend almost a decade ago...

"Why not? They don't own Old Glory."

-Shane