Proud to be an American

Americans are down in the dumps, according to the Associated Press. High gas prices, flagging home values and war in the Middle East have people feeling restless, helpless, victimized. Only 17 percent feel the nation is moving in the right direction.

July 4 - Independence Day - is tomorrow, and I have to tell you that I'm still mighty proud to be living right here, right now.

A few observations:

-- I read last week that the U.S. unemployment rate "soared" to 5.5 percent in May. I don't know about you, but I think that 94.5 percent employment is pretty good. During the 1930s, the unemployment rate "soared" to about 25 percent, and stayed there.

-- Yes, gas is $4 a gallon. But gas was $8.50 a gallon in England last week, and $8.20 in France. The English and the French don't feel it so much because they drive small cars, ride bikes, live close to their jobs and invest in clean, fast, convenient public transportation. Gee, their passenger trains are even better than the great ones we had 50 or 60 years ago.

-- The war in Iraq plods on. To date, 4,000-plus troops have died. But who would have thought, on Sept. 11, 2001, that we'd go more than six years without another major terrorist attack on U.S. soil? And who would have thought that Iraq, run like a penitentiary for decades, would have a free govern-ment? Although it doesn't ease the pain of losing a loved one, our casualties should be kept in perspective.

According to the U.S. Army Military History Institute, U.S. service deaths in World War I totaled 116,000; in World War II, 291,500; in Korea, 36,000; in Vietnam, 58,000. On Sept. 17, 1862, 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing at the Battle of Antietam in Maryland.

-- Times are hard for many families, but very few Americans know actual want. If you want to know about actual want, read "The Great Hunger" by Cecil Woodham-Smith. It tells the story of the Irish potato famine, and how Great Britain - the richest Empire on earth - let 1 million Irish peasants starve to death, and another 1.5 million leave their country.

The biggest health problem facing American children is not hunger, it's flab. The childhood obesity rate was 6.5 percent in 1980, and 32 percent today. American kids may not have enough iPods and cell phones to keep them happy, but - unlike their counterparts in hundreds of other countries - very few are starving, barefoot or in rags. Thanks to places such as Danville Area Community College, even a poor kid can earn a college degree, if he really wants to. Millions already have.

-- Everybody complains about the U.S. health-care system. It is flawed, expensive, and inefficient. It's also miraculous. Millions of heart patients who would have been dead 50 years ago are playing golf and riding roller coasters with their grandkids. Millions who would have been cripples are running around on artificial hips and knees. Amputees are running races. As I said ... miraculous.

-- Our founders were amazing men, even if some owned slaves, chased women and said treasonous things about King George III. Thanks to them, we can go to any church, or to no church at all. We can call the president or the mayor an S.O.B. and not get arrested. We can own a shotgun and use it to protect our family and our property. We can say whatever we want to about our government, and publish our own newspaper. We have the right to a trial by a jury of our peers. Our houses are safe from illegal police searches. No criminal is burned at the stake, or beheaded or buried alive. Very few criminals are executed at all ... even if they admit doing it.

-- Our country has plenty of faults, but it's still disarmingly beautiful, rich, educated and varied. Anything you can say about it is probably true. It's a place where dreams come true. Here, poor kids still grow up to become millionaires, scholars, brain surgeons, judges, even presidents. Millions of foreigners yearn to come here, but nobody is leaving.

Happy 232nd birthday, U.S. of A. You're still the greatest. Surely, God has blessed you, and us.

Danville native Kevin Cullen is a former Commercial-News reporter. Reach him at irish-hiker@aol.com.