I just read Barack Obama's so called 'Patriotism Speech'.
I
can say without qualification that this man has overlooked 90% of what
most Americans would say is the basis for loving this country and he
ignores 100% of what I think warrants my love of America.
Obama never mentions commerce. The closest he comes is a mention of the global economy that requires U.S. government intrusion in education and science.
Commerce has been what made America great. Commerce is what made America work from the beginning. Alexander Hamilton is the hero of those of us who understand the driving forces of our great nation. From day one, Hamilton forced the new Federal government to assume the bonded debts of every state left over from the revolutionary war. Any other choice would have left the 13 states a basket case. Hamilton built the treasury, the tax collection system, the vehicles for international trade, the financial system; all of these are the core of a free strong independent America. Commerce is the basis of our greatness.
Obama probably doesn't have any idea of what he doesn't know. Obama
has no idea that 90% of Americans would answer the question 'why do you
love America?' different than he. Americans will say our love comes
from: the opportunity of every single person to succeed. We love our
classlessness. We love our merit based open market, we love our
ability to travel, to shop, to create our own homes, families and the
direction of our lives. We love the opportunity to start a business.
I go further than that. I love the diversity of America and our ability, beyond that of nearly any other nation in the world (Canada and Israel are the exceptions) to assimilate immigrants. I love the boundless rewards for merit, imagination, adventuresomeness, invention and risk taking.
Obama is not pro commerce and in fact he has no idea what is at the core of most American patriotism.