I couldn't tell where azizi's words left off, and Obama's began. I hated the way the Mark Twain's quote was used out of context. Makes out Twain to be an uber-patriot, when he was no such thing.

I found Obama's speech to be exasperatingly chauvinistic. I'm voting for him, of course. But he clearly has leapt on to the American chauvinist bandwagon for the general election, and (as you might be able to tell from my definitions of patriotism here) that really bothers me on a deep level. I really hoped Obama would stay above that fray, which appeals to the absolute lowest common political denominator is US politics I was truly hoping he would transcend in a post-Bush America.

I would also argue that we have never truly been a nation based upon ideals beyond nation building, expansionism, commerce, and exploitation of others. I guess in that sense I'm more from the leftie/Utah Phillips & Ewan McColl school. Which is very old school in folk circles these days, especially from the looks of the threads this week.