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Actually, though I am an american citizen, I don't bother to vote. I can't stand either major party, and I don't "identify" with our current president, either of his likely replacements, or any other recent president.
My preference for america not losing (that is, not being at a strategic disadvantage relative to other countries) is because (for all its flaws), I think america is (mostly) (compared to our enemies) "the good guys". If I were brought up in some other system, I'd undoubtedly feel different. Obviously I couldn't be on the right side in both cases, so by what logic do I think I'm on the right side of things? Because I was brought up in this system, and I do think we're "the good guys" (at least relatively speaking).
Now I readily accept the possibility that I'm wrong in my worldview (if such a phrase actually means anything at all), and I'm all in favor of questioning my allegiance and considering that either I was mistaken in the past, or perhaps I was right in the past but conditions have changed. I do this regularly, but so far I still come out on the "we're the good guys" side.
Even granting the possibility that the wool is being pulled over my eyes, I still have to come out on the side I think is right. I assure you "the bad guys" spend very little time engaging in all this navel-gazing, so for us to become all high-minded and neutral and indifferent to the outcome virtually guarantees that the bad guys will win.
America-bashing is quite popular, but it's really rather juvenile (compare "amerikka" to a REAL police state) and quite irresponsible. America's enemies are FAR harsher on the environment, women, minorities, the poor, homosexuals, etc than even the wingnut's version of "bushitler" and the rest of the "neocon conspiracy" . Can any sane person seriously NOT care who comes out on top in the long run?
J Thomas, I state again that a world without nuclear weapons is NOT a realistic option. If we didn't develop them, someone else would. If not now, eventually. And even if you make the unlikly assertion that no one would develop them if they didn't exist now, the objective fact is that people HAVE developed them and they DO exist now. Putting the genie back in the bottle is simply impossible, and wishing it were otherwise won't make it so.
We have enemies. We always have, and if you seriously believe that we won't always have enemies, you're far deeper into santa-claus-land than I am. There's simply no evidence whatsoever for the position that people will somehow permanently put aside all of their differences and live happily ever after until the end of time.
Now don't get me wrong - I wish there weren't nuclear weapons at least as much as you. Probably more, because I don't think our enemies can be talked out of trying to kill us. And sooner or later they'll get ahold of a nuclear weapon and detonate it, probably in a major US city. The difference between us is that I'm willing to face the fact that there are and always will be nuclear weapons, whereas you seem to think that if you hide from this admittedly uncomfortable fact you'll somehow be immune from its logical conclusion. Good luck with that - just be sure to put on some SPF-1,000,000 sunscreen and I'm sure everything will work out just fine.