On the Fourth of July, while we celebrate our freedom, think of the troops, eat grilled foods and watch fireworks, there is something Americans aren't willing to talk about, especially this time of year. For about a week I have seen comments, both in print and on the air, about American exceptionalism. If a politician, like Mitt Romney, wants to get the crowd on his side, all they have to do is talk about how America is the greatest country on Earth. Mitch McConnell, in voicing his contempt for Obamacare, said recently that the American health care system is the greatest in the world. When talk arises about immigration, the image of people coming to U.S. So that they can have opportunity is brought up. At numerous times during the year, when we celebrate national holidays, there will be stories about soldiers and veterans who have given up their time and their lives for this country.

When people in the United States talk about the United States they rightfully talk about the country with pride. They rightfully feel proud to be in a country where many of our poor would be considered middle class in less developed countries in the world. They can be proud to have the freedoms they have. People of the United States have a right to say this country has the ideals that many people around the world envy.

The next part of what I'm about to write has to be carefully considered, needs to be understood in very deliberate terms. While we should be proud of the accomplishments we have made as Americans, while we should be thankful for the freedoms we have, we are becoming a nation that takes it's freedoms, takes our place in the world not as a responsibility that should humble us but as a birthright that entitles us. There are quite a number of people who take pride in an America that is slowly becoming extinct. This is happening because we are resting on our laurels. We are, to put it in terms many of us have heard during political seasons, acting like a person born on third base who thinks they hit a triple.

It is true that we have an exceptional medical system, where if you have the money you can keep yourself healthy, but many people don't have access to that health system. For a country as prosperous as ours, it would seem it would be a priority that health care for all would be near the top of the to-do list. Politicians argue about who will take the credit for what plan. A plan endorsed by the Republicans years ago, and we know this because we have records of this in print and on video, is rejected today because the Democrats now endorse it. To get themselves back in control of the government the Republicans are willing to distort, many would probably say lie about their earlier position and paint the plan as ill conceived at best and socialist as worse.

Politicians on both sides are willing to throw out carefully polled focus group words to sway the public not to an informed decision but as a way to win an office. Our politicians have become third string superheroes and villains. They don't have the power and respect of Superman or Batman, first string heroes. They don't have the longevity of second stringers like Green Arrow or Martian Manhunter. They don't even have cult status like Swamp Thing or Sandman. Our politicians are like Vibe or Vixen. Every two years we have an election and every two years new politicians are introduced and older politicians jump back into the fray. They fight each other like heroes and villains but no one really pays attention to the battles because they feel disconnected about what they are talking about. They arguments only hit the ears of the hardcore, and the hardcore want their heroes and villains to fit into narrow boxes. Many of the hardcore constituency are unwilling to hear about compromise, are unwilling to consider the other side might have some points that could be beneficial to them. The politicians, wanting to win at any cost, feeds into this fear and irrational thought.

This line of thinking has grown. We have a country unwilling to look at our faults without calling anyone who might find fault with their 'perfect world' as un-American. To question the exceptionalism of America will cause others to brand you a traitor, communist, socialist, apologist. The mindless empty chant of U. S. A. will ring from their lips. The very freedom of speech these folks cherish will be squashed by them, simply because someone else would dare point out that the country that they love is falling apart.

In this past few weeks, listening to the debate about American exceptionalism grow, those who would wish to point out issues with the statement have faced harsh criticism. Again, the freedom to speak freely shouted down by the masses. We have been unwilling to look for help from other countries, we have been unwilling to acknowledge faults we have made as a country and we have been unwilling to help those who are less fortunate than us. We find it perfectly acceptable to tell a family below a certain economic level that they should pull themselves up by their bootstraps when they have no boots, yet we give subsidies to corporations and tax breaks to the wealthy. We as a country don't think it's ironic that politicians, who is supposed to be serving the people, must constantly campaign to earn money to win re-election, increasing are getting money from special interest groups that are fronts for corporations and a politician can leave office, if they are at the state and national level, as a millionaire.

While it would be easy to blame politicians solely for the attitudes in this country, we must look to ourselves for equal blame. We allow ourselves to be swayed by sound bites and short video clips. Many of us have access to vast bits of information but we use our technology to look up cute cat videos or of young people eating cinnamon. While we may complain that the news doesn't give us real news, look at ending trending discussion on a news site and you will see more people will be interested in the lives of the Kardashians or of the breakup of the latest Hollywood power couple than they are about the deficit or unemployment. You can have people complaining about the coverage of the Queen's jubilee last month or of the Olympics coming up this month, those stories bring in eyeballs and when the news system is based on ratings and not on information vital to the public, we are going to get those stories.

It's work to be well informed, and we don't want to do that. When is the last time you heard anything about the Occupy movement? They were going to change the world, and around the world the Occupy movement is strong, they are vocal and they are visible. Here they are not, because it seems many in the movement believed in some fairytale adventure which would end like a Hollywood movie with swelling music and everything wrapped up in two hours. Life isn't a Hollywood movie. There is no editor going around cutting out the bad parts, there is no mysterious benefactor who shows up at the nick of time to save the town. When faced with reality, many of the protesters went home.

So here we are, a country and a people who are willing to coast, to bask in former glory and declare themselves the best in the world, but unwilling to maintain that title. They are willing to be swayed by people with special interest which don't include them, unwilling to use the technology at their fingertips to educate and mobilize themselves and not wanting to work for the freedoms they claim they wish for all. Yes, go ahead and vote for the next American Idol or Dancing with the Stars person, go ahead and look at cat videos and go ahead and hide your heads and shout down people with chants of U. S. A. when they try to explain to you that we are heading down a very dark and depressing road.