I’d like to take the opportunity this Memorial Day to thank all our veterans and current soldiers in the active service for all that they do to protect this country. For the past eight years, it’s been harder on those on active duty than for anyone else in this country, because those in charge have saw fit to put the men and women of our military in harm’s way under some questionable circumstances. The cheerleaders for the former administration would have damned me as a traitor for saying so, but the last time I checked, they got run out of town with their tails between their legs.

During the Bush years, “patriotism” became tarnished by its overuse in enacting some undemocratic measures (remember “the Patriot Act?”). Sunshine patriots came out of the woodwork to haul anyone critical of our post-9/11 actions as “un-American” and even “America-haters.” Never mind that many of the “brains” behind the war effort had never served when they had the opportunity. It was not a good time to be on the opposite side of the aisle.

Of course, just because Obama’s in charge doesn’t mean that those who were responsible for harassing holders of differing opinions are gone from the scene. Dick Cheney took time off from his busy schedule of training Darth Vader to criticize Obama’s measures as “making us less safe,” which is nice coming from the guy who helped steer us towards an unnecessary war in Iraq. Yeah, giving up on Bin Laden and pursuing Saddam instead really made us safer, Dick. I’m flabbergasted that anyone takes this man seriously anymore.

America is a great country, and those of us who disagreed with Bush weren’t trying to be hateful when we brought up arguments against the administration’s actions. We were just following the course set down from the very first stirrings of independence from England, a tradition that’s stood us in good stead over the years. We might not always agree, but the great thing is none of us are going to be put in prison or murdered just because of that. It was pretty fashionable to couch patriotism as somehow the provenance of the right-wing, an “America: Love It or Leave It” mentality that rubbed a lot of people both here and overseas the wrong way. Now, however, I think it’s safe for me to say that I love America again, because the voices who would say otherwise are dimmer and easier to ignore. People don’t like being told that they’re hurting the country just by speaking their mind.

Another inconvenient truth for the Republican pretty hate machine: most of the significant conflicts in our history (after the Civil War) were overseen by Democratic administrations. We did pretty good with the two World Wars, two-thirds of the Korean War, and the bulk of Vietnam (okay, that didn’t go so well, but it’s still a winning record). The idea that Democrats are somehow “less patriotic” is nice for a campaign slogan or catchphrase for one of the empty-headed anchors on Fox News, but it doesn’t hold up. Al Franken once wrote that Republicans love America blindly, like a child loves its mother. Given the level of discourse in the Bush Era, the Republicans were like a bunch of toddlers just learning to speak.

The servicemen and –women serve no matter who’s in the White House, of course, and we owe it to them to try and do right by them when they are our defense against a hostile world. I have a cousin who’s enduring basic training in the Army right now, and he’s hoping to become an Army Ranger. I hope to hell that, if or when he sees combat, he does so under the best possible circumstances: being led by a knowledgeable leader and given the best equipment money can buy. We owe our armed forces a whole lot more, but it’s a start.