Patriotism and the Fourth

It is hard these days to feel patriotic pride in America.  Yes, we still maintain the trappings of democracy.  We vote for national representatives every 2 years and a president every 4.  In the meantime we congratulate ourselves on our exceptionalism.  At the same time, the Supreme Court has virtually assured our votes are meaningless as a tsunami of money flows into the political system.  Even if we figure out who are the good guys and vote for them, there is no guarantee they will stay that way in the face of money that would have tempted Jesus, let alone Judas.  The people we are supposed to trust to do the best thing for the people are hopelessly compromised by either their belief system or the Koch brothers.  So, we enjoy the parades and fireworks and tell ourselves we have the best government in the world.  Good luck with that.