What is patriotism?
What is Patriotism? Many Americans, especially the conservative ones, would answer that particular question with some version of the phrase “My country, right or wrong!” which was originally spoken in 1816 by Stephen Decater, a returning war hero. The full quote is “may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong!” Their attitude is that whatever it takes to keep us safe, and by that they mean some version of richer and better off than the rest of the world, is okay as long as they are not exposed to its effects and, in fact, don’t even want to know about any of it. If it takes renditioning and torturing and blowing up the occasional innocent civilian, well that’s why they call it collateral damage, which is somehow better that intended damage, sort of a “Whoopsie” that can be glossed over with a “Sorry” or “He was someplace he shouldn’t have been” or even a “But we THOUGHT he was guilty!”
My definition would be more along the lines of honoring our troops by making sure that they are put at risk ONLY when our nation is threatened and then taking care of them when their tour of duty is over. This means that putting them in places like North Africa in 1942, Europe in 1944, or Afghanistan in 2002 is a proper use of them, but not in places like Vietnam in the ‘60s and Iraq in 2003. It also means making sure that the care they receive in our hospitals is the best that there is, that they are not given a discharge for pre-existing conditions when the condition is obviously duty related, or denying them monetary benefits that were given to the fathers and grandfathers because it might influence them to not re-up. They are NOT raw material to be used up and then discarded because they are too expensive or inconvenient. And let the news cover their bodies being returned to the country that they sacrificed their lives for, even if it reduces the President’s approval ratings.
My definition of patriotism would also include the simple act of holding our politicians accountable for their actions, and those actions must include making sure that this country always at least tries to do the right thing. We may not always succeed, we are after all merely a nation of flawed human beings, but we should always try. And by the right thing I don’t mean the politically correct thing or the popular thing or the thing that will get you re-elected or the thing that will get your former, or perhaps future, employer a huge government contract or insure you a cushy job. I mean that which will most benefit the country and its citizens, all of its citizens and not just the rich or the poor or the corporations or your donors, but all. They may not always succeed, in fact they will probably rarely succeed, but failure to help all will usually help most. And then they could stand up, and all of their fellow citizens could stand up, in front of current and future generations and say “We always did the best we could, the best we knew how, and we tried to do the right thing!” That would make a great epitaph for any person, or any country.
John A. Joseph
St. Louis
Mr. Joseph
I know what patriotism is not.
It is not voting to send the military into war, and then try to block funding, while they are in harms way.
It is not Lurch, calling the American military, terrorists.
It is not John Murtha, http://www.kxmb.com/News/Nation/254139.asp
It is not Durbin, comparing Guantanamo Bay to Gulags.