Optimism is the key driving force of conservative America, and in the face of impending disaster, it has become clear that America — the one from the stories of your childhood and from your civics textbooks — is a colossal lie.
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The pastor of a leading opposition candidate is roundly condemned for a host of rhetorical offenses. And while some of them may well not be true (notably the AIDS accusation), others are dead on the money. His crime, however, is having the audacity to point to America and call her what she has become. Even the AIDS accusation, which seems so unbelievable to an America conditioned to believe the best about itself, has its origins in an episode of experimentation of African Americans in Alabama that, no doubt, seemed just as unbelievable when it finally came to light in 1972.
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As long as we’re shouted down, ridiculed and ostracized for pointing out America’s flaws and for failing to do our part as consumers, America will continue down the primrose path. Don’t get me wrong: There’s plenty to love about America.