Good parents

So I got to thinking about those parents who operate from the starting position that their child is perfect. Their perfect children piss rainbows and shit gold nuggets. When their children are disciplined at school, the parents come to the principal's office with their lawyers*, to defend their flawless spawn.

We all know what happens to those children. They turn into monsters. They come to believe that they are perfect, and that they can do no wrong. Everything they do is justified, because they are the ones who did it.

I think that relates to this great nation of ours. The so-called patriots on the right who think any criticism of United States policy is "blaming America first" are the parents who refuse to correct their children when they do wrong. As I've been reading the defenses of Richard Nixon in the wake of the Deep Throat revelation, the parents of perfection are coming out in force, to defend their lying, stealing, criminal child.

True patriots are good parents - they take their stewardship of this democracy seriously, and work to correct the nation when it's on the wrong path.

So forget the authoritarian parent vs. the nurturant parent frames. Bad parents let their kids get away with stuff they should be disciplined for. Good parents recognize when their child needs to be corrected, and they do so - lovingly, but firmly.

Liberals are good parents. People who believe "America, right or wrong" are essentially telling us they don't care. I care, and that's one of the reasons why I'm a liberal.

*one of the guys I sing with is a principal. It happens more often then you might think.