• Originally published July 7, 2008 at 9:28 a.m., updated July 7, 2008 at 9:28 a.m.

OK, let’s get all the negative stuff out of the way right at the top: America is a polluted land, with street crime matched only by the white-collar variety, with leaders in the Oval Office and the Congress who are never good enough and never get enough done, and with an economy that dodders like an old man with arthritis.

We’ve got $4-a-gallon gasoline and big SUVs that guzzle it. House sales are low and foreclosures are high, and the presidential election year is bringing out the venom.

That’s not a complete list of our flaws, to be sure. Feel free to add your own. But remember, the key word there is “free,” and you can thank God you are.

So, even in the face of all that’s wrong with America, we still believe there is no better government, laws or people on the planet than we have right here.

Let’s play “If we’re so bad...” and see what we can come up with. Here goes:

If we’re so bad, why do immigrants constantly clamber across our borders from Mexico, Central and South America, Europe and Asia, often risking their very lives, on the promise of a better life in America? If we’re so bad, why don’t we see Americans fleeing their country for other destinations?

If we’re so bad, how come extremists from halfway around the world are so obsessed with destroying us and our way of life? If we were that bad, wouldn’t it be easier to just let us destroy ourselves? After 232 years of democratic survival, they must know that won’t happen.

If we’re so bad, why are we criticized by the very nations we’ve helped, time and time again, in times of war and natural disaster? Whether it’s a tsunami or an ethnic cleansing, America has stepped in to help, time and time again, bringing aid to those hit hard by nature and pushing back the tyranny that would claim innocent lives.

America has always led the way in humanitarian assistance, no matter where tragedy strikes. We’re criticized for not doing enough to quell the AIDS epidemic in Africa, for instance, but can anyone name a nation that is doing as much to help as is America?

So, turn to each other, and with a mighty hug, wish yourselves a happy, happy birthday.

And many more, America ... many more.

With all your flaws and fault lines, we love you.

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