This is a Bit of a Stretch...

Pride is the root of every wickedness, I’m told. Yet, I am guilty of this most iniquitous of sins. I am proud. My circumstances make it impossible for me to avoid this transgression. You see, my citizenship of the United States of America gives me my sinful pride. My very respiratory habits augment the offense. I close my eyes compress my lips open my nose/mind and simply: breathe. I inhale the spirit, the essence if you will, of my country - the enterprise, freedom, innovation, and unity so distinctively American - as well as the fine dust disturbed and stirred into the air by the hard work of US citizens. The very atmosphere in which I live and breathe is cause enough to be proud of my country. That atmosphere may not be as pure as it once was, because of the industry of my nation, but efforts are being made to remedy the pollution necessitated by progress. If my country spills, it cleans up. How can I remain unproud? Not easily, I’m afraid. My country is inimitable. Its beginnings instigated the freedom movement of the modern world. But that was just its beginnings. My country’s incredible development from a small, newly democratic foundling of a country into the world’s ideal nation - the international standard of sovereign success - has been scrutinized and attempted to be duplicated by the rest of the world. There is more democracy and hence, freedom, worldwide simply because of my country‘s existence and advocacy. My country could have jealously guarded the freedom it sacrificed so much for, but rather, it thrust hospitable arms outward and asked the world for its tired, its poor, its huddled masses yearning to breathe free. My unworthy pride bespeaks even greater wickedness when compared with the honorable, compassionate traits of its source. That source, my country, is very principled, and in times of international crisis, has always proffered a helping hand. It has never begrudged any country aid - even those with which it is at war. Of course, America is not entirely perfect. My country does occasionally make mistakes. But what characterizes the United States of America is its ability to rise above those mistakes. This country adapts, and grows because of those masterful adaptations. Some may scorn at the previous statement, who parody the United States as a miserably setting sun, a once glorified “melting pot” heated into a molten mass of a mess - a failed world power. I should ignore their slurs, but, wicked person that I am, my pride obstructs that kindness. The United States is not perfect - and my saying so would discredit any pride I supposed I had in being American - but it is something to be proud of. Forgive my flagrant pride.