I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.*

"I shall know but one country. The ends I aim at shall be my country’s, my God’s and Truth’s. I was born an American; I live an American; I shall die an American." -- Daniel Webster


"Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be." -- John Wayne





The U.S. of A. This one is harder for me for a couple of reasons. One - I am a cynic who has issues with a lot of things involving the U.S. government. Two - It's not like the U.S.A. and I hang out all the time and I can gush about how great they are. But I told myself I would stick with this and blog through each of the things from President's Monson's talk each Sunday until I was done. Since I don't stick with much and I only have two more weeks of specific, predetermined topics, I figured I can make it through. In two weeks I can start gushing about whatever I was thankful for in the past week or something.




This is truly an amazing country that we live in. My reason number one, where I said I was a cynic with issues with the government...I have the freedom to be that. There are so many freedoms that I have in the United States. I have the freedom to vote...or not vote, whichever I choose. One of the greatest freedoms that we can have in this country is the freedom of religion. I could go through the Bill of Rights here and talk about each, but I won't.


I am proud to be an American. I feel that in the past couple of years people have made it seem like we shouldn't be proud of who we are. That's nonsense to me, those are the words of a bully, an abuser, someone who doesn't want us to believe we are great so that therefore we won't be great. I admit, it works on me from time to time. I am not as patriotic as I should be, I don't always love my country, sometimes I feel like as a group we are cocky...and maybe we truly are. But that is besides the point. This country is based on freedom. Freedom from tyranny, freedom to act and make choices for ourselves.



I love this country, not only for the freedoms it provides but it is a beautiful country! I have driven and visited a large portion of it, and it's so different from one area to the next. The mountains, valleys, deserts, forests, the wonders of nature. Coast to coast this is a beautiful nation.



I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. No matter what my current thoughts on politics or the American people as a whole, this is my home, this is who I am. It's history is my history, it's future is my future. I have the right and responsibility of helping to determine the future of this country and to preserve the good that it was founded on and that currently exists.



"Our citizenship in the United States is our national character. Our citizenship in any particular state is only our local distinction. By the latter we are known at home, by the former to the world. Our great title is AMERICANS…" -- Thomas Paine

May we always stand up for what is good, honest, and true. May we fight to preserve our freedoms, may we not back down to the barrage of negativity that is constantly thrown in our faces, may we always be proud to be Americans.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." -- Abraham Lincoln