I watched the Indianapolis 500 this morning, including the 2 hour pre-race broadcast and noticed something about my.....

.......reaction to all of the usual, expected elements to the show. There was a young lady singing all three verses of "America the Beautiful", a military squad doing a close-order drill and firing a synchronized salute, jet fighters flying over in formation, a aerial fireworks display that created an image of the American flag in colored smoke over the infield, another singer, a baritone , singing the star-spangled banner, and a few more things redolent of patriotism in the heartland. I usually like this kind of stuff, choosing not to see it as American "jingoism", but instead as pride in our country expressed in a somewhat corny way.

But today, given the current state of affairs in the world and how it has affected people in other countries and their attitudes toward us, I found myself seeing things through their eyes. America the bully that uses it's strength to push the world around and get our way. And then we celebrate that military strength in a way, at a "sporting event" that would make Pete Hegseth proud.

Trump has poisoned my attitude about my own country..