No, I am listening to exactly what you're saying and have heard it many times from Americans just like you. We will never see eye to eye because you look through the very narrow slit of jingoism, whilst I try to see a bigger picture. You have extrapolated "I don't celebrate the anthem" into "I hate America and its soldiers", and I think that's unreasonable. You have also judged a man on a couple of soundbites, which I think is unwise.
There is plenty of dissent about the Australian anthem - some people like it, others completely hate it - but no one calls anyone else un-Australian for their opinion about it. Nor did people here label each other as "true Austalian" or "anti-Australian" over their opinion on joining the latest Iraq war - it is a peculiarly American trait to hound others to tow the line over issues that people should be able to dissent on. We are talking about something very similar to the Dixie Chicks saga - they were not being "anti-American", or hating on the troops - that was patently obvious to anyone with half a brain - they simply objected to their country's involvement in a war that they disagreed with, as is their democratic right and responsibility, and yet they were hounded as if they had betrayed the nation. Jingoism at its finest.
Anyway, have a nice day in your black and white world. I'll stick to my shades of grey.
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