Reply #15: Nicely done

[Ready2Snap]

I found your post well organized, very much like an op-ed piece, but with a personal touch so as not to appear slick or preachy.
The second and third paragraphs could be restructured as a great framing template for people of our persuasion to use in combating the right-wing propaganda machine that is strangling free speech and the public discourse.
(That you feel "guilty" is testament to how deeply they have infected our individual and national self-image and challenged our convictions.)
I like how the second paragraph shows how our moral values stack up to the conservatives.
The third paragraph is a laundry list of liberal initiatives which have helped our society evolve to the exalted status it enjoys.
I'd like to see each sentence broken out so that each stands out as a distinct accomplishment of liberal/progressive action
("It was . . .";
"It was . . .";
"It was . . .".)
The rest is a nice bit of non-accusatory criticism about where we've erred as a nation, what needs to be made right and that inclusion and tolerance, not exclusion and oppression, are the true core values of America.
Your call to action at the end with the "I refuse to believe-" is a classic op-ed conclusion.
Again, nicely done.