Democrats are America, too

For a long time, the Republicans Party and its constituents have gotten away with claiming that they are America and that the rest of America is not. This claim - along with the related claim by many among Republicans that America owes everything to Republicans - has gone widely unchallenged, and it is time that it be given proper scrutiny.

America is a large and diverse country. No single cultural or ideological locale has right to claim credit for all of it, or to claim that they are the true America and that the rest of America is not. Texas is part of America; so is New York. Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama and South Carolina are parts of America; so are New England and California. Republican-voting areas of America are part of America; so are the Democratic-voting areas of America. And it is time that the Republicans stop getting away with the claim that they are America, and that the rest of America is not.

In fact, America owes many of its achievements to the Democrats. They are the bulk of America's scientists whose work is at the root of every product sold by business. They are the bulk of America's teachers and social workers who do the heavy lifting to make people employable and keep them productive and out of crime. It is Democrats who, in administrations of Woodrow Wilson and FDR, gave America its greatest military victories in the two world wars. It is Democrats who, as Clinton administration, gave America its greatest peace and prosperity, the only balanced budget in 40 years, a drastic reduction in  violent crime, and an overhaul of the government to make it efficient and user-friendly. The widely Democratic computer industry has been the driving engine of 1980s and 1990s prosperity, and the widely Democratic film industry gives the rest of the world the main impression it gets of America and its promise.

The anti-American stance taken by many on the Left has proven non-viable. It keeps turning into "if you hate America why are you here" or "we are America and you are not." A much more provident stance is as follows: "We are America too." America does not start, nor does it end, with Republican parts of the country. Northeast, Great Lakes, West Coast, and places such as New Mexico and Colorado, are just as much America as are the Republican areas, and America owes much of what it has to these places and their residents.

So that while a major Republicans strategy has been to wear the flag, it is time that some of the flag be also worn by the Democratic constituents. Democratic areas are just as much America as the Republican ones, and the Democratic voters are just as much Americans as the Republican voters. It is time that this be acknowledged in the public debate, and it is time that the Left take its legitimate place as part of America and as a major contributor to its greatness.