Country vs. Party

Country is more important than party. The more I hear this phrase repeated, the more it bothers me. Joe Lieberman repeated it last night more times than I can remember. Sounds high-minded, but in reality it doesn't really make any sense.

Politicians join a party because they share a common view on how best to run a country, so that it can be successful and take care of its inhabitants. Which party is not putting country first? It's a facetious argument to say that if you are a Democrat and you're not voting for McCain, you are not doing so in the best interest of your country. Putting your country first is the principle goal of any party. Then again, Joe Lieberman has never made sense.

"The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first."- Barack Obama - DNC '08