They impose this demanding yardstick with rarely if ever a thought for evaluating their own personal contribution to the end result - and that they all too often find so very disappointing. Whatever the rationale, be sure that any misfortune that attends will be assignable to others. In our present national mind-set, only success is deemed a personal accomplishment. Nowhere is this doctrine more evident than in the vapid and nonsensical electoral charade that we play out each four years, and that is ostensibly intended to select the best and wisest among us, to fill the crucial positions of political leadership. America is in patriotic decline.
Patriotism is no longer either fashionable nor much admired.