Love of country need not be reflective of its wealth or power. My love for the US is about its democratic institutions, in particular its Constitution, which recognises the danger of concentrated state power, beginning
with its stirring first words, the source of legitimacy of government, "We the people…"
For some time I've had a lover's quarrel with my other country. But some quarrels are more serious than others. When the US Supreme Court interjected itself in the 2000 Florida vote count and, by a majority of one, elected George W. Bush to the presidency, my long-held belief in the court's political neutrality was upended. I've not been able to view the court in the same way, since.
Though I believed that Bush's Iraq war was a serious failure, legally, militarily and strategically, it was the deliberate use of torture on prisoners, with its implications for the rules of warfare and potential future treatment of Americans as prisoners, that caused me to leave my political party.
That party, the so-called Republican Party, has continued to disappoint. In the past three years it has allowed itself, through fears of electoral opposition, to become simply the Trump party. This week that party reached a new low. It was not the foregone conclusion of a vote to acquit President Donald J. Trump of the two articles of impeachment.
Although it might have reflected some minimal degree of independence from Trump had a few Republicans, beyond Sen. Romney, voted for conviction based on the evidence already made available.
It was the abject collusion with the President, explicitly acknowledged by Mitch McConnell, the Senate Leader, to refuse to seek relevant documents or testimony from important witnesses who had offered to provide information relevant to the impeachment charges.