Dissent is Patriotic*

Sedition is not.

* - Not even close to all dissent is patriotic even if it, in some obscure way, seeks to 'better' the country. Only if it seeks to better a country that is already loved and good could it be considered patriotic. If you are practicing dissent from the Michelle Obama School of Backhanded Patriotism, your mileage may vary.


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It's a Dust Storm

You'll get something in your eye.

Seriously, look. Then, as you probably don't do often enough, marvel at the phenomenal beauty and depth of the human experience. The pits of depravity run deep but the well of love and honor run much deeper.

(h/t: Ghost of a Flea)

More On Patriotism

The news of the last week caused an explosion of discussions about patriotism. Here we have another one that hits another angle I haven't mentioned yet:

The "dissent" school seems to acknowledge love not of the actual country, but the Country of the Future, once all the flaws are fixed, which is not only utopian but utterly quixotic, since no group of human beings can ever organize themselves in a fashion without problems.

I agree completely. It is evident that many 'patriotic dissenters' don't actually have any love for our country as it is but instead make evident a love for the country as it would be were their pet changes were established or as it was in some never-was imagining of our past.

On the one hand, we have individuals (primarily liberals/progressives) that look at the United States like a naughty child who's potential is amazing if only he'd change behavior along the lines of whatever pet project floats their boat. America would be great if we had 'free' health care for everyone. America would be great if it obeyed the international community. America would be great if it wasn't the most racist country in the world, etc.

On the other hand you have individuals (often conservatives in this case) who would love this country if only it hadn't sold out that one major principle they have decided represents America's greatness. If only America hadn't instituted the income tax. If only America hadn't become such a police state (and we haven't... if anything our freedom regarding law enforcement is more transparent and free than any time in our history). If only we still cared about babies and children. If only we didn't police the world like some arrogant drunkard, etc.

The problem with both world views is that they are based in fantasy and don't in any way represent what patriotism actually is. In my mind, patriotism is more like familial love than any political statement. This is my country. I love her. I will always love her. Nothing she can do can make me root against her. It is an emotion, not a reasoned position. If we as a nation decide to institute national healthcare, I will find it abhorrent but I will still love her. If we as a nation decided to make peace with the terrorists and abandoned Iraq to them, I'd still love her. I'd love her like a drunk uncle in prison, but I'd love her. And I'd do anything to make things better.

What I would never and have never done is wish any ill upon her. In the case of national healthcare, I would hope that it was fiscally and socially beneficial. I could hope no other thing. I wouldn't antagonize for its miserable failure so I could win a political argument. My patriotism is greater than any opinion I may hold. We all wish this country was different in some way but you don't live your life with the country you want, you live with the country you have.

So, are you a patriot? Well, complete this thought experiment: If you were suddenly transported to 1860 and now lived in a nation rife with slavery, would you still love that country as it was?

I would.

Update: Christopher Taylor is smarter than me and a better person. Read this and try to metaphorically scrub my post out of your mind. You'll be glad you did.

Specifically Unpatriotic

As I mentioned recently, I find the disturbing protestations of leftists about their patriotism to be the height of inanity. Now we see them filled with faux rage at Rush Limbaugh after willfully misinterpreting statements that were neither offensive to the military nor false in any way. Captain Ed notes something that should make their heads explode:

So Rush Limbaugh supposedly calls dissenting soldiers "phony" -- he didn't, but let's run with this -- and the Left screeches about dishonoring the troops. How about calling them predators, murderers, and liars? Does that count as besmirching the troops? Will Media Matters and Harry Reid call for Code Pink to be shut down, and will Wes Clark demand that they have no access to military facilities?

Obviously everyone can agree that this behavior isn't patriotic. You might even say it is un-patriotic. I know I'm just a bumpkin midwestern conservative but if you call me a child predator, murder and liar I may get the impression you are insulting me.

Were I to point this out, I'm certain I'd get a vast array of gesticulating protestations from the left about how the right is attempting to malign them as unpatriotic. Perhaps we have a problem of specificity.

Code Pink is unpatriotic. Jack Murtha is unpatriotic. In exchange for agreement on these specific statements, I'm willing to allow terms generally used generically by the left (racist, hateful, bigoted, closed-minded, stupid, etc.) to be more specifically applied to individual conservatives or groups of conservatives.

I'll open the bidding with Pat Buchanon.

I eagerly await your counter-offer.

Update: I don't know why you come here instead of reading posts by talented bloggers like Armed Liberal. Oh well, you monkeys probably deserve me.

20% Fucktards

So only 20% of the Democrats think the world would be better off if America lost in Iraq. Well, I guess we're all fine and dandy.

I think I need to start commissioning my own polls. Here's one for you. What percentage of Americans think the world would be better off if all of the previously named Democrats were packed up and mailed to Iraq so they could personally explain their position to the people most effected by their retarded world view.

Seriously, in what patchouli-induced fantasy world does it improve anything when America gets sent packing by a bunch of medeivalist homo-murderers? I can only imagine that their belief is somehow rooted in my favorite of all liberal masochism fantasies; that America is constantly overstepping its authority and deserves some comeuppance.

This leads me back to the hands-down most inane political argument of the 21st century. That whole "just because I never do or say anything patriotic and, in fact, often display measurable excitement at the failures of my country doesn't mean you have the right to question my patriotism" argument. As Jeff Goldstein has often discussed, the left's obsession with gray areas has allowed them to muddy the meaning of words so far that they lack any meaning or depth at all. Patriotism's meaning has been dumbed down to imply anything I insist is patriotic instead of some benchmark of behavior. I mean, they somehow manage to claim patriotic motives while simultaneously deriding any statement or behavior that might, maybe, somehow demonstrate a mild preference for the United States over, say, a country that wants do destroy us.

I mean, I've heard the statement, "the American flag should never be worn or displayed as clothing" while simultaneously implying that it is not only acceptable but desirable for Mexicans or Africans to display colors of countries from which they don't even originate!

I'm just so fucking fed up with this pomo, transnational, we are the world view that doesn't allow people to make such basic judgements as deciding a pluralistic, free country is superior to one that routinely executes non-existent gays as a matter of national policy. Has it really gotten so bad in academia that I have to hear people equivocating sheepishly whenever the topic of national pride is broached?

If 20% of any political party in good standing yearns for America's defeat and humiliation, I dare say it has. And if a party comprised of such worthless Quislings can command the support to control both houses of congress and soon the Presidency, I have nothing but dread for the future.

Exit Question: When did it stop being fashionable to be on one's own team?

(Hat Tip: Dan Collins)