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Mail from the President
Feb. 2nd, 2009 03:27 pmMy mother was a patriot. The kind of patriot who taught her son proper flag etiquette — and who thought people who burned that flag in protest had an absolute right to do so. The kind of patriot whose response to "America: Love It or Leave It" posters was to draw up her own "America: Love It and Improve It" poster and put it in the window. The sort of patriot who weaned her son on myths of the Founding Fathers and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
So today, when I received email from the President of the United States — the first President in a generation whose election would have made my mother feel proud of her fellow citizens — I sat up straight, set my shoulders, and read it carefully. Even though I knew full well as I read it that I was one of probably 15 million recipients, that it was really essentially a message from the Democratic party, and that it wasn't him but a database that knew my first name — even though I knew, in short, that my reaction was absurd. Because, if for no other reason, my mother would have wanted me to be proud.
So today, when I received email from the President of the United States — the first President in a generation whose election would have made my mother feel proud of her fellow citizens — I sat up straight, set my shoulders, and read it carefully. Even though I knew full well as I read it that I was one of probably 15 million recipients, that it was really essentially a message from the Democratic party, and that it wasn't him but a database that knew my first name — even though I knew, in short, that my reaction was absurd. Because, if for no other reason, my mother would have wanted me to be proud.
