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Putting a stupid bumper sticker on my car, or wearing a special lapel pin changes nothing. And mindlessly supporting what I consider to be bad poicy does not make me more patriotic.

Wow, did you pick the right nick.

If that's what you meant, that is what you should have said. What you actually said was this:

I think Bush will look beatable, unless he finds a convenient excuse to invade Iran and stir up more false patriotism

You implied that "false patriotism" was a Bush strategy and that he would find an "excuse...to stir [it] up..." Don't blame anyone for interpreting your words fairly.

When the President's support goes from the 70s to the 50s, what is motivating the 20% or so that used to support him but don't any more? What has happened to make them change their minds? Are they suddenly less patriotic? Were they MORE patriotic when they supported the President? Do they suddenly now not support the troops?

The answer is that nothing has happened, except a successful military campaign. We would see the same thing with a conflict with Iran (or North Korea or...). THOSE are the false patriots, or perhaps a better term is Thomas Paines' sunshine patriots.