I'm struck by how meta the whole patriotism thing has become, especially among the more right-leaning among us. How does one display their patriotism? Well, by waving the flag and so on--in other words, patriotism is displayed by displays of patriotism. Well, at least it's symmetrical. And evidently the right's version of patriotism means not talking shit about the government, and especially the president (except, I suppose, when a Democrat is in office, in which case having prominent citizens publicly wish for high-profile assassinations or natural disasters is just dandy). I find the right's version of patriotism to be interesting in its shallowness and in how self-serving it is, especially when one actually listens to the "most patriotic" of all citizens, the religious right (of course). They do nothing but bitch about this country. Seriously, I've spent a lot of time around such people, and they're always complaining about our laws (too lenient on criminals, too lenient on abortion, etc.), our institutions (liberal courts, for one), and our society (moving away from God). These folks are unpatriotic by their own standards, but I don't think they're unpatriotic. They have specific complaints about where this country is headed--complaints that I think are wrong-headed, irresponsible and half-baked, in many cases--but they want to address these issues because they want America to be a better place. As do I. As do all liberals.
This is one area where the right should just let the left shed the baggage of the 60's- and 70's-era left. Now those folks were unpatriotic, outwardly, and there was talk about revolution among those people in that time and place. I'm willing to concede that. But that's not the whole story. The modern-day left is not the old "New Left." We don't give a damn about socialist ideology or anything like that. A lot of conservatives just refuse to take liberals at their word when they say they love America, and construe all manner of nefarious motives to even the most innocent of liberal ideas. That might work for the more addled senior citizens who still believe that the left consists of bra-burning, draft-dodging radicals (i.e. people living in the past) but the up-and-coming generation will not identify with that aggrievement that has been one of the GOP's biggest weapons for decades. They already have their work cut out for them with the next generation. To us, hippies are something we only saw in films, the radical left something of which most of us have no awareness. So, when Republicans say that the Democrats want to withdraw from Iraq because they want to see America humiliated, we just think they're insane. Which they are if they actually believe what they're saying. But there are still plenty of old people around, flags still burning in their minds. They won't, however, be around for long.
In essence, the whole point of patriotism is a love of one's country. Uncontroversial. And the main idea is that the love of one's country ought to prompt individuals to make sacrifices on behalf of one's country, to support her when she's right and criticize her when she's wrong, the latter being necessary on the occasions when the patria veers off course (as does happen). I get the sense that, deep down, we all agree about this. Why not just trust each other?
