Recently, the idea of what it means to be "a good American" was brought up in conversation. What does it really mean to be a good American, in the eyes of the government? Is it nodding and smiling to whatever the current administration says? Is it openly criticizing the government in times of national crisis? Is it going along with the majority opinion? Is it trying to give the majority what it wants, whether that's what's good for it or not?

It's the last point that really bothers me. In a democracy, we're supposed to be governed by majority rule, right? Well, what if the majority is wrong? If the majority is wrong, then it is up to the real leaders of the culture to stand up and attempt to illuminate the masses? If the masses still insist on pursuing an erroneous course of action, should a real American swallow his own beliefs and join the popular cause, attempt to leave the country, or...?

I recently read part of Dinesh Disouza's new book, Letters to a Young Conservative. In it, he's asked why he's a conservative. He basically says that liberals try to see things from both sides, while conservatives recognize that there are two sides, and one is simply wrong. That bothers me at some deep level. It's like all those people that drove me nuts in high school: they wouldn't even discuss theology, because they were right and anything else is wrong.

If the conservatives were to look around them in America and see that they weren't the majority, tried to illuminate the masses around them but fail, and then decide to seize power and do "the right thing" regardless of legality or whether or not it was what the people wanted, would they be "good Americans"?

Take that thought and exchange any terrorist flavor-of-the-day for the word 'Americans', and you'll see what we're up against.