"Now he must declare that the war on terror is over"
If the most important single thing that Obama should do quickly is to announce the immediate closure of Guantánamo Bay, the corollary has to be a declaration that the war on terror is over. Accept that terrorism is a technique. It is not an ideology. The west faces no global enemy, no worldwide Islamofascist conspiracy. Foreign crises should be
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"When Bush was elected for the first time, when we walked around campus for a week with faces as long as a wet week, before 9/11, before Afghanistan, let alone Iraq, before the Patriot Act, before "Blame Canada" and freedom fries, before abstinence-only education in HIV-ridden Africa, just the next day or two, I secretly thought, can it really be that bad? It was.
So now, can it really be that good? It can."
For me, of course, as an American it has never been as simple as being "anti-America." I'm pretty patriotic. Not in the sense that I wave flags around, recite the pledge of allegiance (which creeps me out), or unconditionally support government. But, in the sense that, to me, being patriotic is a complex thing. Being American is an entrenched thing for me - it's wrapped up in all of my memories, sentimentalities... it's my country, my home, it's where I have loved people and lost people, it's a place that has given my family so much even if we didn't deserve it. It's just home, and I'm not sure what it would take for me to ever be "anti-home." America has always been far too diverse for me to define it. It's the sum of all the people in it: not just the extreme right wing people. And for those parts of it that I find repugnant, I believe there are reasons for it. Not justifications, but human reasons for it being that way.
In any case, I'm glad you feel better about it now. So do I.
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