America's greatness

  This has always puzzled me. 
  People who live in this great country seem to be ashamed and reluctant to love it. To be patriotic is to be jingo-istic. 
  Old fashioned. 
  Liberal reality of America  is that she is guilty of 
  1) oppression of other countries  
  2) lack of progress toward women and minority groups   
  3) inequity in dealing with the poor   
  4)  inability to provide free (fill in the blank) to the shiftless classes, no matter their age.
  This liberal attitude is pervasive in even young people.
  While it is admired by liberals for the French, the English, the Iranians, et al to love their countries, it is not so for this country.
  One must ask why.
  What purpose does it serve to be hypercritical of one's country? 
  Now Charles Blow at the NY Times has written yet another criticism of these United States. Here's a taste:

America is great in many ways, but on a whole host of measures — some of which are shown in the accompanying chart — we have become the laggards of the industrialized world. Not only are we not No. 1 — “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” — we are among the worst of the worst

  The worst of the worst. 
  Yeah. 
  How 'bout that for a realistic attitude?
  Tavis Smiley is deprived. He's mistreated. He's maligned.
  Again another instance.
  When Bill Maher suggests that Muslim men need to be more open minded about women, Tavis Smiley cannot even acknowledge that American women are not treated as badly as women in predominantly Islamic countries. Instead Smiley (what a name for this guy) complains about other imagined grievances. We don't support the prejudiced Maher, but rather point out that liberals seem to be unable to be realists when it comes to living in this country.
  Get real, and quit expecting utopia, dudes. That's been a problem for years, people expecting utopia.
  You can watch the video here:

  Hey, you know what?

  America rocks. 

  We have problems, but we work on them.

  We have prejudices, but there are many laws to protect people in this country, as opposed to Islamic countries, where women have no rights.

  H/T Weasel Zippers.