The following was written in reply to a ton of snotty remarks made about Biden's take on patriotism and taxes - see original story HERE.
I wrote:
Americans are sick when it comes to taxes, and we can thank Reagan, the Great Liar, for the disease. We expect the moon, and keep borrowing money like an adolescent child, putting off responsible policy for another generation. Yes, it's patriotic to pay taxes. All of us need to pay a little more and spend a little less on our toys and personal pleasures, most of which end up in next summer's garage sale and leave us wondering why in the world we ever bought it.
Corporations need to pay more in taxes, to make them lean and thoughtful - do they really need billion dollar mega-buildings, and tens of millions paid out to executives who are just as inept and clumsy as the rest of us?
The sickness of greed always results in disdain for the poor ... but I wonder how many of the blather-heads who've written their scalding notes about poverty know anything about it, how infected our economy really is, and the sickness of greed.
Patriotism?
We don't know what it is, and we haven't known for 50 years ... we've been on a silly lark of spend, spend, spend. Even as the Trade Towers were falling, Bush said, "Go out and shop." Shop till you drop, and we've dropped now.
Can we really be patriotic? Can we stand together with one another? Can this nation recover its regard for one and for all? Can we spend less on ourselves and more on our infrastructure, health care, education, and green technology?
Patriotism is all about sacrifice, and it's been a long time since we've had any help in learning the lessons of patriotism. We’ve settled for a fake instead: flag-waving and god-bless-america stuff without thought about the flag and what it really means, and what it really means to invoke the divine for our wellbeing.
Joe Biden is right. But the truth hurts, and the snotty retorts reveal just how tender the spot it. We’re selfish as hell. Our raw capitalism has fed the coffers of the wealth while depleting our treasury.
It's time to undo the lies of Reagan; it's time to recognize the falsehood of the Repub/Neo-con mantra, a philosophy of lies that has undone our greatness, ruined our reputation, sunk our economy, mired us in a senseless war, filled our minds with empty rhetoric and worsened the infection of greed.
It's time for us to pay attention to someone who has the guts to tell the Bible thumpers and the so-called shoot-'em-boys the sobering truth.
Joe Biden is a patriot of the highest kind!
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