A Liberal is NOT a Patriot!

The following is a response to an editorial on AmericanThinker.com on whether or not a liberal can be a patriot. I think this response puts the issue in perspective very succintly. - Angel

Once upon a time, I was what many would call a liberal, and like a great number of liberals today, I despised the United States of America. I was not a patriot in any sense. My idea of the ideal was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
I detested the concept of private property and capitalism. I would spout Communist propaganda: The capitalists own the world. They own the land, the means of production, the money. They can tell your parents to get off the earth.
I believed the poor had every right to murder the rich and take their possessions.
I believed the government, and only the government, should dictate the allocation of resources to prevent the rich from spending their largesse on new yachts or fancy cars.
At eighteen, I registered Socialist Workers Party and intended to vote for McGovern (until he denied ever advocating decriminalization of marijauna). I absolutely loathed Richard Nixon, the State of Israel, and all Jews because they were supposedly the mythical god's chosen people (and often acted like it).
I also hated Jews because most of the ones I knew were RICH! Professionals, business owners, capitalist market players.
I even toyed with the idea of leaving the U.S. and moving to the USSR like fellow Communist Lee Harvey Oswald did.
To say I was a patriot, or had a scintilla of patriotism and love for this country is laughable. And I do not believe most liberals are patriotic. Quite the opposite.
At age twenty, my life was transformed after hearing the Gospel.
Although I became a-political until Ronald Reagan, my views on America changed overnight.
I came to see this nation as most immigrants did, as a land of opportunity. One didn't need to be a Party member to succeed. One didn't need a title granted by the Queen to earn a decent living. All that is required is the determination to become educated or the willingness to invest one's time and resources to nurture a going concern.
America is THE greatest nation ever to bless the earth. It's no wonder Mexicans and others do whatever is necessary, including sneakinig across the border, to get a piece of the American Dream.
I have been on both sides of this question. As a "liberal" (call them what they are, quasi-communists) I was miserably unhappy, obsessed with the unfairness of life here, continually angry at anyone who had more than I did.
Today, I am thankful I have decent employment and a portion of the Dream. I'm not wealthy, but I'm happy.
Today, I fete the rich. For without them and their investments, capital would be difficult to come by.
Despite the warts, despite the past racial injustices, I am proud to call myself an American.

Robert McClain