Gallup poll shows that about 50 percent of Americans believe the universe is less than 10,000 years old. In other words, about half of America takes Genesis (a hold over myth from the bronze age) more seriously than the vast body of scientific evidence available to mankind.

George Bush got elected twice. Not only that but about a third of Americans still "strongly" support him.

We're willing to wage a costly war, yet we're going to wind up cutting funding for children's health care because it's too expensive.

Feel free to add to the list. You can't start to fix America if you don't identify it's faults.

Here's what I expect to see immediately:

Prototypical conservative: You hate America!

Me: No I don't. I love America.

Prototypical conservative: If you loved America, you wouldn't criticize it.

Me: No. The love I have for America is a mature kind of love that one has for a spouse or significant other. You recognize that you each have flaws and that you can work symbiotically to overcome your shortcomings and come out on the other side a stronger individual. The kind of love you have for your country is the kind of love a six-year-old girl has for her mommy. Mommy is always right and anyone who questions mommy is bad. This is an immature kind of love.

Prototypical conservative: What does prototypical mean?

So now that we're past that, go ahead and identify what you are embarrassed about with regards to America's shortcomings.