"True love is the blind belief that your child is the smartest, cutest, most charming person in the world, one you would gladly die for."

You're one of my favorites here and this is the first time I've thought to take exception to what you wrote. But what you wrote is not "true love". True love of a child is loving him/her with all your heart knowing that they may not be the smartest, cutest, most charming person in the world and still be willing to die for them.

I would have died for my ex-wife (would still probably consider it) during my 10 year marriage, but at some point she, we, I, changed. She wanted other things or someone else. Maybe both. I didn't want what she wanted or didn't know how to help her obtain them without sacrificing something fundamental about who I was or wanted to be. That doesn't mean I loved her any less. I truely loved her, and maybe still do, even though now I want nothing to do with her because of the pain of unfulfilled commitments and expectations. That same could be said of a nation. Though I'm not ready to give up on our nation yet.

The right in this country thinks it's a higher form of love to love a "construct" unconditionally. To love a human unconditionally is a qualitatively different love. Our nation is an artificial entity, an idea. It's something we create like a child but not the same. Like a child we can nurture it, love it and try to teach it what's right and true. Hold it accountable for its actions. Take active part in its life. When it fails to do what we hope, we continue to love it regardless. That doesn't stop us from continuing to try to get it to see what's right. But generally speaking with a child, we can't go back. After a child reaches a certain age, it's an autonomous entity responsible for it's own actions. And while we always want the best for them and will always be there to offer counsel or help if requested, we can't change who they've become.

A nation cannot be thought of in the same way. It can be deconstructed any time through collective will. Its institutions can be changed or modified to better function through collective effort, perpetually. A nation is a child frozen in the "untapped potential stage" of life always capable of approaching the ideal. The right doesn't love our nation enough if it isn't willing to keep fighting to improve it, to make it better, to see it serve its people, and the world.

It would indeed be a weird kind of love to stop parenting at age 8 telling your child "this is the best human you'll ever be and I'll still love you no matter what horrifically bad decisions you make".

I believe righties are stunted adults. I think lefties care enough not to insensitively say "you're fat" but to say "of course I love you but I agree that there are things we could work together on fixing."

Sorry for the inconsistent pronouns and bad comparisons.

in anthropology, I find it hard to believe you believe that at base our "capacity for violence" is at the root of who we are as evolutionary beings and should be embraced. Or maybe I misread you yesterday which I conceded was possible.

Seems what little academic anthropology I've been exposed to confirms my basic suspicion that humans evolutionary strength lies in its capacity for cooperation and propogation.

Zinn wrote it was myth that we are warlike by nature. He could be wrong given its not his discipline. Seems we sometimes "warred" when we had too much competitive stress for the necessities of life . . . food, shelter, mates. Civilized man seems to war for profit, power, and unnecessary property and wealth accumulation.

I don't think we have much nature other than to avoid fire, try to procreate (though not all), and flee or fight something trying to eat or kill us. Otherwise our nature is learned. In any event I'm not sure embracing or elevating or most primative evolutionary qualities is sound going forward. If that's the case why not just immunize the chosen and release a plague on the planet. Then you get a perfect little Eden once all the bodies have decayed.

Not me thanks. I'll take learned empathy and peaceful cooperation over violence today and twice on Sunday.

StenoPropoYellowGossipOffalAdverTelevangelists. Or SPYGOATs for short:

Primary function is to generate non-stop torrential amounts of advertising industry created DOD contracted Congressionally approved biblically inspired disinforming myth producing shite to be pumped into every home in the world via dish or cable. The goal being to have you so fucked up about what reality really is that even if someone slipped you the "red pill" you wouldn't believe it and you'd willingly slip right back into your very pleasant simulated reality as lead billie in a Tushar Mountains goat herd peacefully chomping sedges and lichens or the alternate reality of blissful homo sapien shopper who just found "teh best bargain evar" at WalMart. I think its random which one they steer you towards but you never know given that they're constantly monitoring your brainwave responses through the cable box. Then again maybe I'm overly paranoid but I don't think Orwell could have imagined the ease with which his warnings would be overcome following the advent of television. 50 short years and you've turned America and (maybe half the world) into overconsuming nitwits who serve very little purpose other than to breed and take a few short vacations so they can fuel the machine.

doughy pantloads incredibly inane musings in today's edition. The letters section will fry him and the editors but they'll only print a few tasty ones to even it out with snow stories.