US Patriotism vs. Liberal Solidarity

The American Thinker ^ | July 04, 2009 | Christopher Chantrill

[Scanian]

Just as we conservatives get ready to celebrate our patriotism on the Fourth of July, a liberal from a prominent family has been accused of spying for Cuba. Write Mary Beth Sheridan and Del Quentin Wilber in The Washington Post about a retired State Department employee:

What Walter Kendall Myers kept hidden, according to documents unsealed in court Friday, was a deep and long-standing anger toward his country, an anger that allegedly made him willing to spy for Cuba for three decades.

Ho hum. It's not as if this is the first time.

Yet these days it is good old American patriotism that is always on the hot seat not the liberals fawning over Fidel Castro.

In liberal-land the preferred feeling of belonging, of united action in a group, is not patriotism. It is called solidarity. But it is only allowed if you are acting in an approved liberal cause. That's because solidarity gets defined as "uniting individuals in their response to particular situations of injustice, oppression, or tyranny."

It is a fine thing to be a member of a labor union, united in solidarity--forever--in opposition to corporate greed. It is a good thing to be a member of a black journalists' association battling against under-representation of African Americans in newsrooms and on editorial boards. It is also ethical to rise above clan, tribe, and nationality towards the notion of a global humanity, a solidarity that embraces all humans, or even all living things.

But don't you try it at home. The solidarities that conservatives experience, for family, for church, for the armed forces, for local civic pride, for the nation--these are different. You know how it works. Family? Think of the dangers of the patriarchy and the bigotry of exclusive heterosexual marriage. Church? Think Elmer Gantry and religious wars.

[WellyP]

Good day for a public hanging!