Happy Jubilee, my UK friends

I hope all my friends in the UK are enjoying a splendid Jubilee celebration. It all sounds so uplifting and festive and proud.

I was struck, on looking at the Twitter stream for the #proudtobebritish hashtag, by how many less-than-positive tweets there were, pointing out various iniquities perpetrated by Britain (some of them pretty recent). I get it--the great nations have done great evil. I'm not a fan of blind patriotism and it seems prudent to remember the past, bad and good.

But still. Symbolic day. Great nation. Long history. Deep roots. Proud traditions. I'd be proud to be British today too, if I were.