The patriotism of the conservative goes unquestioned. It's assumed that every politician on the right will wear a flag on his lapel and effortlessly hold forth on ours as "the greatest country in the history of the world." ...But the progressive and the reformer have a problem with what passes for unadulterated patriotism. By nature, the reformer is bound to insist that the country, however glorious, is not a perfect place, that it is capable of doing wrong as well as right. The nation that declared "all men are created equal" was, at the time those words were written, the home of an extensive system of slavery.
Most reformers guard their patriotic credentials by moving quickly to the next logical step: that the true genius of America has always been its capacity for self-correction. I'd assert that this is a better argument for patriotism than any effort to pretend that the Almighty has marked us as the world's first flawless nation.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
On Patriotism
E.J. Dionne at the Washington Post has a good article on the patriotism of the left.
Read the entire article here.
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4 comments:
Well said. And the commentary is on point, especially as a response to the cliched "love it or leave it" line that follows any mildly critical statement about the US. In this light, the tables are turned and the jingo-conservative becomes (gasp) un-American.
But there are worse things, right? Like being unwashed or French (not that the two are synonymous). Speaking of "Les Bleues", I really hope they lose their WC semi-final match to Portugal today. Should I, in order to be considered a true patriot, have stopped watching after the US lost?
anytime someone raises the notion that God favors the US, i automatically stop listening. by the same token anytime someone says that God favors them or dislikes others I shut them out. that's just nonsense. this is a very good article. opposing US policies should not be unpatriotic. you can love this country but still be critical of its actions. unconditional love only exists for toddlers.
GO ITALIA!
Is being favored by God a good thing? I mean the Jews are God's chosen people and aside from having a few geniuses here and there, things haven't exactly been peachy for them.
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