I never consider myself very patriotic... Many fellow Americans challenge me on why I have decided to live abroad for most of my adult life... I value my choices because living in different countries - 11 years in Italy and 6 years now in Thailand - have made me a much stronger individual, and have also taught me to value how my parents raised me and the luck I had to grow up in America...
I think most Americans take for granted what they have. The liberties and freedoms that exist in America are only starting to exist in some countries, yet other countries are very far away...
I will frequently criticize the choices of the American government and there are some things American that I will never accept or condone. The great thing though is that I can do that because I am American...
Listening to this version of the National Anthem reminded me of the above... You can take the American out of the USA, but you can never take the USA out of the American...