It's Independence Day again, and you know what that means: My lawn is knee high on the Fourth of July and radio listeners are enduring around-the-clock broadcasts of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A." Seriously, has anyone since Francis Scott Key gotten so much mileage out of one song? Well, maybe Rick Dees with "Disco Duck."

By the end of the holiday weekend we all will have watched the parade, grabbed a slice of watermelon at the picnic and burned off our eyebrows in a fireworks accident. But have we really celebrated what it means to be an American?

Sometimes, it seems, our patriotism is superficial. Sure, you went out and bought a flag after 9/11, but did you cast a ballot this spring? Less than 40 percent of Wisconsinites did in February's presidential primary. And if you thought that was pathetic, voter turnout in April's spring election dipped below 20 percent. You could practically fit every voter into the Shriners' clown car in the July Fourth parade.

We call ourselves proud Americans, yet when it comes time to perform our most vital function, we decide we'd rather watch "Roseanne" reruns than trouble ourselves with voting. It isn't important enough for us to monitor the campaigns to identify the best candidates, and then sacrifice all of 15 minutes to visit a polling place and cast a ballot. But we still fancy ourselves patriots, because after all we just bought the latest Toby Keith album.

Given that most of us don't bother to vote, it should come as no surprise that even fewer of us volunteer to serve our communities in office. Insult the U.S.A., and we'll put a boot in your butt. But ask us to do the work of the government we claim to be so proud of, and ... umm ... we're washing our hair that day.

I don't know if the same is true in your town, but in these parts it sometimes seems it would be easier to locate Osama bin Laden than find candidates for local elective office. I'm not talking about the county and state-level races: Any office that comes with a full-time paycheck draws politicians faster than a ribbon cutting ceremony or an open microphone.

The challenge comes in finding qualified candidates for town boards, school boards and city councils. Not only do most of these races go uncontested, but it seems half the time there are no applicants for open seats.

It's then that I wonder: Where have all the patriots gone? Sure, we wore our flag lapel pins to church on Sunday, but have we rolled up our sleeves to advance democracy?

We all have our excuses, of course. We're working two jobs to survive in this sputtering economy, and we don't have time to attend meetings three nights a week. Or we don't want to take angry calls at home at night about how that mutt Muffy sneaked under the fence again and dug up Mrs. Higgenbotham's petunias. Or we're employees of the newspaper and aren't allowed to run for office -- and wouldn't be popular enough to win, anyway. In any case, we figure someone else will step up and do the dirty work for us eventually.

Fortunately, a lot of qualified -- and already busy -- people do just that. In the end, some patriotic soul steps in at the last minute and spends the next two years on the zoning board of appeals. The rest of us are let off the hook, free to enjoy a slice of apple pie with Mom on the Fourth.

Wouldn't it be a testament to this country's patriotic zeal if citizens lined up to vote the way they line up for concert tickets? Or if every local race was vigorously contested by multiple qualified candidates? I dream of the day when four respected people from my community run for one open seat on the zoning board of appeals.

Now THAT would be a moment that could move me to sing a Lee Greenwood song. I'd ask you to guess which, but I think there's only one.

Columnist Ben Bromley is unofficially running for president, and he approves this message. Contact him at bbromley@capitalnewspapers.com

(July 3, 2008)