I don’t tear up at the anthem either though my heart does skip a beat and I certainly grouse about America’s faults. There’s no such thing as perfection and we tread a careful balance between safety and freedom. It’s a fine line and we often fight about where it can be drawn.

But the beauty of America is that we can fight about where to draw that line. We can and do vocally criticize even the President ad naueseum. (Our elected officials know going in that they can’t please everyone — or should — and they are going to be mocked as much as praised.)

In the end, for all my grumblings, I too love America. In the end, all that grumbling and arguing over what’s right, what’s constitutional and what would the founding fathers have done (yes, I too find this somewhat silly) is about loving America and wanting to do all we can to preserve her and give her our best. We fight because we fight for her.

By the people, for the people, struggling maybe but not quite yet dead and won’t be as long as we care enough to quibble over Lady Liberty and what she means to us.