Some Midwestern common sense about patriotism

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."

— Mark Twain

This Independence Day we celebrate the 242nd year of survival for the experiment we call the United States. If an outsider were suddenly dropped among us, you could understand them believing a 243rd birthday to be unlikely.

Cable news would tell the person that one man has put the nation on the edge of either nuclear annihilation or dissolution from internal unrest. The outsider would believe that nothing matters unless it is happening in Hollywood or Washington, D.C.

But if that person is lucky he will find a Midwesterner to apply a little common sense. He will learn that being in the middle gives one perspective that can never be gained from the extreme edges of our nation.

Our most revered sages come from Flyover Country. Our favorite one, Abraham Lincoln, expressed this idea: "I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him."

In that idea is what could be the equivalent of the Golden Rule for politics or patriotism or citizenship. As you celebrate your freedoms, ask what public service you can do to make your community proud of you.

Happy Independence Day.

This story was originally published June 29, 2018 at 4:13 PM.