I don't take anything for what it is. Not even having to wait in line for a ride at an amusement park - I'll just buy a ticket for the "express line," or accepting that "out of stock" status at the grocery store on my favorite whatever - I'll just hit another store, or inching along a jammed up freeway - until I can get to an off ramp and take side streets. Some might just settle in for what it is. But there is always a choice. A choice to leave early, go a different day, go a different way, or not go at all. "It is what it is" is just not an American saying. Not a true blooded one. Americans push through. We blast, bomb, rip, bulldoze, grind, and scratch our way through. It's our culture. We celebrate the memories of those acts. We celebrate the building of bridges, dams, and buildings - and we celebrate the winning of battles, wars, and the heroes who risked or gave their lives for us.
“It is what it is" is a cop out. It's not acceptable. Trains would have never transversed the American continent. Hitler would have never been stopped. Men would have never walked on the moon. Occasionally mankind pushes too far. And when that happens, it is what is is is once again not what it's going to be. Americans are not perfect, but ruination is not acceptable. They work all nighters, they innovate, they take huge risks, they tear down and rebuild and change. Failure is never an option.
This is America. It's the greatest country on the planet. Freedom rings. Look around and you will see that it is not what it is. It's what you want it to be.