The question is on the lips of many.  Some  decry our failings and insist they are endemic, and show the decline of our Country’s greatness. 

They point to our prosperity as evidence of our selfishness. 

They point at our innovation and insist that we are lazy and weak.

They insist that in their lives we have never done anything worthy of pride.

Some point to the White House and our president, and decry his failings and decide the America has suffered under his leadership.  They accuse him of crimes and demand his oust.

They demonstrate against our Military, and defame them.  They falsely accuse them of crimes and atrocities.

They protest in the streets against the war we fight, against our foreign policy, against our leaders, against our culture and against religion.

The take the symbols of our country and deface them in protest.

They write articles and blogs and columns pointing our in glorious prose and detail the sins of our country, past present ad future.

So I ask myself:  In the face of so much hatred, disappointment and vile rhetoric, is America Still Great?

You bet your ass it is.  The proof is in the protest to start with.

We are virtually unique in the world where so much protest and anti government sentiment can be openly displayed, and not just tolerated, but downright celebrated.

Our Constitution, which continues to thrive despite the naysayers best arguments, protects those who speak against America the loudest.

For every person who speaks about how America has declined in greatness, their very words continue to prove we are still great.  All the Journalists that write diatribes against America do so because America values the freedom of dissent.

For those who protest our Military, and slander them, the fact they can do such acts is a testimony to how well our Military has preserved those freedoms.

Obama first:  In response to Rene Marie surprise substitution of Lift Ev’ry  Voice and Sing:

 Obama: Only one national anthem

Barack Obama picked some low-hanging fruit and scored some points in Denver today, after a local jazz singer substituted what some called the “black national anthem” for the Star Spangled Banner at a municipal event.  Saying that Rene Marie should have sung what she promised, Obama made clear that he only recognizes one national anthem for Americans:

Sen. Barack Obama said today a jazz singer’s decision to sing the ‘Black National Anthem’ at Denver’s State of the City speech this week was wrong.

“Well, ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ is a beautiful song that has been sung in African-American churches and other events for a very long time,” Obama told the Rocky in phone interview. “We only have one National Anthem. And so, if she was asked to sing the National Anthem, she should have sung that. ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ is a beautiful song, but we only have one National Anthem.”

Hot Air is right, it was an easy score.  But I admit, I would have expected a much more nuanced response from him.   He stuck to a simple truth.

And McCain posted this powerful 4th of July message:

Putting The Country First

Two of our greatest statesmen, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, took their last breaths on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after they presented America with our Declaration of Independence. They had been fellow revolutionaries, the closest of comrades, who went on to become bitter political rivals. Then, as the new era of the 1800s dawned, they reconciled, reminded of their old friendship and the momentous history they had made together. “Who shall write the history of the American revolution?” Adams asked Jefferson in one of the 158 letters they exchanged after they’d rediscovered their bonds. “Nobody,” responded Jefferson, suggesting that while writers could understand the facts, they might never grasp the sacrifices.