I agree

[papasmurfbell]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0824-greenwood-ravens-20170823-story.html

 

At the start of every home game I’ve attended since 2001, the Ravens organization has welcomed the American flag into M&T Bank Stadium with Lee Greenwood’s bellicose “God Bless the U.S.A.” song with its frequent refrain: “And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free, And I won't forget the men who died, Who gave that right to me.” Despite its jingoistic tone, this song fit the national mood in the aftermath of 9/11, but discomfort began to surface once the Bush administration took the nation into its tragic and misguided Iraq invasion.

Discomfort has now mushroomed into despair as our national administration has led our country away from the core values of decency and openness that made this country so deserving of its citizens’ pride. In its place we find a bullying school yard climate of hatred and fear-mongering that manifests itself in a ban on entry into this once-welcoming country of a sizable segment of an entire religious group, the vicious hounding of immigrants, a frontal attack on the voting rights of citizens, the shredding of important environmental protections, the disruption of long-standing ties to democratic allies, the troubling embrace of anti-democratic strong-men, and a distressing pattern of using public office for personal enrichment. Meanwhile, the slogan of freedom celebrated in this song has been hijacked by right-wing zealots and turned into a justification for racial, sexual, ethnic and religious discrimination; for denial of rights to health care and for rolling back a generation of progress in making our Constitution’s commitment to equal protection of the laws a reality.