I had never seen it before. It nearly brought tears to my eyes.
This is something that illustrates why America is greater than the sum of its parts. Patriotism is the recognition of that.
But Patriotism has become a four letter word. Why? I was on a thread the other night discussing the Dixie Chicks and their disdain for patriotism. Natalie Maines in particular was mouthing off recently about this subject.
In my opinion, Patriotism is the philosophy of giving genuine thanks where thanks are due for having the privilege and good fortune of being an American citizen.
We genuinely do not have to worry about being dragged out of our beds in the middle of the night and disappearing into the maw of some totalitarian hell, never to be seen again.
If we want to write a scathing letter to the editor of some paper somewhere, denouncing our elected officials and/or their policies, we can do so with complete safety and impuinity. The papers can print those same letters with safety and impunity.
You can make it in life here, and that is not an accident. You have the freedom as an American, to do anything you want with your life. If you want to become a nuclear physicist, nobody will deny that to you, but you will be asked to pay for it and earn it. If you want to be a rock star, the only thing holding you back is yourself. If you want to hang out at intersections of roads in cities like Cambridge, MA, Madsion, WI or Berkeley, CA and beg money from people in cars by holding up handwritten cardboard signs, that is your choice and nobody is going to have you shot. (A good description of this type of unique freedom we enjoy can be found in Dinesh Desouza's book What's So Great About America?".
The point is, this immature, self-centered bitch (and the rest of her so called band, as well as Liberals and Democrats everywhere) mistakes Patriotism with Jingoism.
Patriotism is defined as: The action of vigorously supporting one's country and being prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors.
If someone can explain to me why that is a bad thing, I am all ears.
Jingoism is defined as: Extreme patriotism, chauvinism, extreme nationalism, xenophobia, flag-waving; hawkishness, militarism, belligerence, bellicosity.
I guarantee you, Liberals, Democrats and the Dixie Chicks all think Jingoism is Patriotism. And they do not have a clue as to how wrong they are.
BTTT