There is perhaps no holiday I look forward to more in my adulthood than the 4th. I have several traditions that have taken hold over the years; watching the wonderful series “The Revolution” on the History Channel all day, playing patriotic music both old and new, steaks on the barbecue, watching the White Sox, and finally a trip to the local fireworks show.
And never far below the surface is a powerful emotion that can emerge at the most unexpected of times. Sometimes, a particular song can make the throat tighten or a passing memory of a childhood patriotic celebration will cause my eyes to mist over. These outward manifestations of patriotic feelings are, I am sure, shared by many if not most conservatives. We love this country of ours. We worship its past – the great men and women who risked so much and sacrificed all to create the greatest nation on earth. We glory in our traditions and the symbols of our nationhood.
This despite the fact that most of us also recognize that America has failed at times to live up to the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution; that to this day, the words “all men are created equal” ring hollow for those who suffer the effects of racism, sexism, and bigotry. And that we, a nation of immigrants, don’t always welcome newcomers the way we should.
This is one of the major reasons I love history. America is, at bottom, the most schizophrenic nation imaginable. As long ago as 1765 in the midst of the Stamp Act crisis, wise old Samuel Johnson, the English man of letters who compiled the first English language dictionary, wrote to a friend “Why is it we hear the loudest yelps for freedom from the drivers of Negro slaves?”
Johnson nailed the historical dichotomy of America that continues to this day. We are nation in love with peace who have fought uncounted wars and battles just since the end of World War II. We are a nation with a Statue of Liberty who welcomes immigrants with the stirring words “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, …” who then turns around and puts up signs “No Irish need apply” or “English only spoken here.”
Herein lies the great chasm that separates liberals and conservatives when it comes to defining the word “patriotism.” The right sees patriotism as a physical, emotional connection with the past; an open acknowledgment and tribute to those who came before us and guaranteed with their blood, sweat, and tears that we, their progeny, would live in freedom. We are aware that America is not all it could be but rather than dwelling on our imperfections, we celebrate all that is good and decent in this land and its people.
The flip side of the same coin is how liberals define patriotism. They seem to intellectualize their love of country. They distrust outward displays of patriotic emotion, tending to equate fervor with patriotism’s evil twin – nationalism. Liberals see a problematic past for America and are not shy about pointing out where America has fallen short in its promises of liberty and equality.
But does this mean that liberals are less patriotic than conservatives?
Is it unpatriotic to want your country to live up to its extraordinary ideals? Is it unpatriotic to criticize what liberals see as hypocrisy in our history, where we celebrated freedom while keeping millions in bondage? Or speak glowingly of Native American culture while treating them abysmally?
How can one quantify patriotism? How can anyone weigh the patriotism of a liberal and declare your patriotism superior? How can you say one person is “more patriotic” than another? Is there only one definition of patriotism?
The problem as I see it is that both sides base their patriotism on a singular vision of what America was, what it is, and what it could, or should be. That’s why it’s so easy to delegitimize the other side’s love of country. The fundamental differences between right and left rest not on whether one side loves America “more” or actually hates our country, but on our inability to see what the other side sees and feels when thinking about the United States.
Can you disbelieve the notion of American Exceptionalism and still be a patriot? Why not? Who has granted you the ability to peer into the souls of men and glean something as personal as love of country while judging it relativistically? There is no scale on which you can place a liberal’s emotional attachment to our homeland and weigh it against your own. It borders on arrogance to make this attempt.
One of the most liberal senators of the last half century, Paul Simon of Illinois, was one of the most patriotic men I ever met. When he talked about his vision of America — nearly 180 degrees opposite of mine — he could become as emotional as any conservative politician. He called on the spirits of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and other patriots of yore — just as any conservative patriot would do. But his love of country was based on a different idea of America and it’s history than those of us on the right. Calling Simon unpatriotic or “anti-American” is absurd and is not based on anything except an exceptionally narrow and partisan view of what patriotism is.
Liberals have died for our freedom as often as conservatives, I’ll wager. And when they got to heaven and were welcomed by patriots from our past, I doubt very much whether they were asked where they stood on abortion, or affirmative action, or environmental issues. They gave that “last full measure of devotion” as selflessly and as willingly as anyone on the right.
Let’s remember that today, of all days, when our differences should melt away and we celebrate America — no matter how we see her.
There is a scene in “1776″ where John Dickinson, having lost the vote on independence, declares that he is going to go join the army anyway and fight for the nation.
Then there is the situation where , in 1861, after the flag had been fired upon, Democrats, some who probably wouldn’t have minded if the Republican Party had disappeared into the blackest hole possible, still nevertheless joined up and supported the cause. Grant before the war might have been a Democrat in leanings. He certainly was not an abolitionist. He fought with the greatest tenacity to put down the rebellion.
And so the answer is if the love of America is essentially conditional on them getting their way, no, liberals in fact are not patriotic. They are instead searchers in hunt for a land to call their own, and finding there is none, have decided to remake the one they currently live in to suit their dreams better, all the while wondering aloud how great America could be were it not for the fact it had Americans in it. If, on the other hand, they act in the spirit of Douglas in 1861, they are, in fact, patriotic, for at the end of the day they will choose America over something else, and not as a tactical move to preserve future viability, either.
I therefore do not believe, by the above definition, that Barack Obama is a patriot.
To go further–Nancy Pelosi is not either. If America was threatened and it offered an opportunity for domestic power somehow by opposing the fighting of this threat, Ms. Pelosi would indulge herself. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, once she made her initial missteps driven by ambition, would in fact at the end of the day prove she is a patriot.
Take the above as you will, and for what you think they are worth.
I cannot force myself to believe in the patriotism of those who believe in the opposite of the ideals of liberty and rugged individualism that forged this country. They seek to change the country into some Marxist specter of itself, a pale imitation that must needs devolve to fascism.
I do believe there have been great liberal politicians who were true patriots. Paul Simon may have been such; Daniel Patrick Moynihan IMHO was the last great thinker on the left side of the aisle, a great man and a great patriot.
Pelosi, Reed, and Obama whose ideology was nurtered for 20 years in the cult of black liberation theology – not even close to patriotic. In my view, just the opposite.
My patriot litmus test is very simple.
Anyone who wants to ‘fundamentally transform’ the country is NOT a patriot. That would include the idiot who uttered the phrase and those who voted for him in 2008 after he said it.
Liberals today are not the Liberals of yesterday. You mention Paul Simon as an exemplar. He left the Senate 15 years ago, and his time in government was the 22 years before that. His differences with what is now the rote Democrat party line [supporting Taiwan? fiscal conservatism? limiting sex and violence on TV (he was the one behind the V-Chip), author of a "Balanced Budget Amendment" with Orin Hatch? All heresy now. Ask that star of the Democratic Party Joe Lieberman about it.] would have him purged from them today. This is not the last century, where at least some Democrats had fought for their country. This century they insult, attack, and hinder those who do the fighting, as a matter of ideological faith.
They vote as a bloc in accordance with the views of the most Leftist, and reflexively anti-American of their leadership. Some may demand bribes to do so, but they all do so. The vanished species of Blue Dog Democrats just were practiced at lying to separate their campaigning from their actual governance.
Democrats and other Leftists cannot give a speech in praise of America with a straight face and without at least one dig at the country and its people. They cannot support this country against any foreign enemy or threat, and reflexively blame this country for anything wrong in the world. They are no longer our countrymen, nor we theirs.
We constantly hear them declaim their hatred and contempt for us, personally and in the media. They are just now finding out that it is not unilateral.
So be it.
Oh, anonymous; I personally think your faith in Ms. Clinton is far more charitable to her than she deserves. She would love to play the role of “Iron Felix”.
Subotai Bahadur
Damn right we’re more patriotic! You won’t hear a liberal even SAY anything supportive of our country, unless its election time and they’re trying the old bait and switch to get elected/reelected. If they told the truth about what they wanted to do we wouldn’t have any democrats in congress except from the black inner-cities and Hollywood, maybe New England too. The democratic party today is America-hating, communist and black racist theologists that would hold less than 35 seats if they were honest. But, the commies and socialists (commie-light) that masquerade as “journalists” in America today will do whatever is necessary to protect them – America is seeing the truth more clearly every day. Thank God for the new media!
Its a shame that Romney could do so much, achieve so many great things for all of us, by simply telling the truth and letting the chips fall where they may, but he’s not fighting to win and do great things, he’s just playing to not lose. There’s a difference. Shame.