Posted on 07/07/2004 7:29:23 PM PDT by Rays_Dad
It seems everywhere I turn, I am blasted by liberal talking heads. Everywhere, really – baseball, Jeep, Home and Garden messages boards, the coffee shop, breakroom, gym, you name it – there is some liberal lightweight sharing the left’s talking points. One of the talking points that has been weighing heavily on my mind, as of late, is patriotism. Michael Moore, along with every other left-wing blowhard, has elegantly stated a person is only a patriot if he or she voices ideals that are counter to that of government’s. In the left’s estimation that simple act would make someone a “true” patriot as opposed to flag-waving Americans on the home-front. Not to mention the thousands of soldiers fighting for freedom around the world; they are obviously not “true” patriots. I keep thinking about a picture I have come across numerous times of a bunch of masked twenty-something hacks holding a sign that says in effect, “We will support the troops when they shoot their officers.” These pukes, in Michael Moore’s mind’s eye are the greatest example of patriots. Why the ramble you ask? I will turn to the place that attracts the people which are most like me and ask a question.
What is your definition of a patriot? Is Michael Moore correct in his definition? Or is the term patriot defined by the time and context in which it is used?
I look forward to all of your thoughts.
Chip – oh by the way, I am in the Air Force; am I a patriot?
Reasonable people who have the patience and take the time to educate those people in the error of their thinking are patriots.
A patriot is one who realizes that freedom is never free, that freedom comes from God and not from governments, and that those who proclaim "we're going to take some things away from you for the common good" are the enemies of freedom and should be fought with tooth and nail every step of the way....
Michael Moore propagandizing against our country and slandering US troops does not take lots of "courage" as he'd have one believe whereas those brave souls in Iraq who stood up to Saddam or the remainders of his stalinst baathist regime and the terrorists they're aligned with HAVE courage. In a free country like the USA Moore's "patriotism" does not place his life on the line in the way he suggests it would be.
Nam Vet
In the spirit of your comments about education, I'll note that I've been tailgated alot lately, because I have two bumper stickers on my car at the moment: 1) [small picture of John Kerry] "I'm an internationalist. I (and I'm paraphrasing here, but I have the actual quote) only want to see our troops dispersed around the world at the directive of the United Nations. - 1968, John Kerry: and 2) John Kerry would make a better FRENCH PRIME MINISTER.
So, I'm trying to do my part to make these people THINK, instead of just act like sponges of the drivel they got in college and continue to get on CNN/ABC/LATIMES/NYTIMES/CBS/etc.
Well, I do hope I don't get keyed, though....
Your profession of work does not make you a patriot.
Your profession of desire to see your country succeed in the right way, does.
Michael Moore does not want the US to succeed in the right way, he wants us to be Communist. He is NOT a patriot.
'My country, right or wrong,' is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, 'My mother, drunk or sober.' – G.K. Chesterton
The key to dissent or criticism being patriotic is that it be honest and reasoned. There is nothing honorable about criticism for criticism's sake. There is also the question of timing. Except in the direst of circumstances there is nothing constructive that can come from hammering away at an administration in time of war. It is a time to rally together and give the CinC the benefit of the doubt. Those that maliciously attempt to subvert and then wrap themselves in the cloak of patriotism or the First Amendmendment do a graver disservice to those ideals than an army of censors could ever hope to.
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