Where has all the patriotism gone?

[Semper Fi]

Remember after 9/11 when the whole US stood in anger and vengence, united against the forces of terrorism? I certainly do, and unlike many people who call themselves Americans, that feeling has never left me. I'd like to tell everyone to fly a US flag in their yard, stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance, and realize that the war you now call evil was the answer to your prayers five years ago. We're the inhabitants of the best damn country the earth has seen, so stand up and show your support instead of finding more to complain about. We patriots are slowly being replaced by government-persecuting pessimists. To everyone: relax and restore your pride in America. Thanks for reading. :usa:

 

[theim]

I just typed up a long rant in reply to this, giving a fisking and going on about adherants to a certain political persuasion and their true feelings toward this country. But I deleted it. I saved it to Word for a later date though, I thought it was quite good. But it contained a near-lethal dose of cynicism, and I just couldn't bring myself to unleash it upon someone who's frank, undemanding, and if I may say "cute" love of his country managed to touch my black and frozen soul.

Hang onto that, and don't end up like me. In my early twenties and already rivalling Hobbes and Machiavelli in my dim veiw of humanity.

 

[Bullypulpit]

Remember after 9/11 when the whole US stood in anger and vengence, united against the forces of terrorism? I certainly do, and unlike many people who call themselves Americans, that feeling has never left me. I'd like to tell everyone to fly a US flag in their yard, stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance, and realize that the war you now call evil was the answer to your prayers five years ago. We're the inhabitants of the best damn country the earth has seen, so stand up and show your support instead of finding more to complain about. We patriots are slowly being replaced by government-persecuting pessimists. To everyone: relax and restore your pride in America. Thanks for reading. :usa:

In the aftermath of 9/11, the target was clear...Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the Taliban regime which supported them in Afghanistan. Instead of finishing the job in Afghanistan, Dubbyuh launched an invasion into Iraq on flimsy, if not outright false, pretexts.

I support my country, and am proud of many of its accomplishments. But the current administration has besmirched the honor and good reputation of this country around the world. Dissent against the government is, after all, a patriotic act.

AS for "government-persecuting pessimists", just remember that "pessimist" is a term created by pollyanish optimists to describe realists.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Remember after 9/11 when the whole US stood in anger and vengence, united against the forces of terrorism? I certainly do, and unlike many people who call themselves Americans, that feeling has never left me. I'd like to tell everyone to fly a US flag in their yard, stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance, and realize that the war you now call evil was the answer to your prayers five years ago. We're the inhabitants of the best damn country the earth has seen, so stand up and show your support instead of finding more to complain about. We patriots are slowly being replaced by government-persecuting pessimists. To everyone: relax and restore your pride in America. Thanks for reading. :usa:

I was on board until the bushies wanted to sell port operations to A terrorist supporting nation. That's seriously deranged. How do YOU justify it in your own mind?

 

[CSM]

Just my opinion, but it seems to me that the United States of America is bigger than the current administration or the Clinton administration or any other administration you care to name. Patriotism is more than just dissent against the government; it is more than doing your duty as a citizen (whether as a member of the military or exercising your right to vote); it is more than mere nationalism. Patriotism encompasses the ideas of love of your country, of your culture and its people. It is a belief in the morality of the ideals of this country. It is the hope that things can be made "better"; that even though mistakes are made, we as a nation can learn from them and move forward. It is all that and more. I am not a grand public speaker and the words to express my thoughts on this matter are not coming to mind very easily; but I know that my concept of patriotism is manifest in my firm belief that this is indeed the best place on the globe to live, raise a family, and pursue life and happiness. I alos firmly believe that patriotism is a good thing and that it is still alive and well in this country.

 

[Annie]

Just my opinion, but it seems to me that the United States of America is bigger than the current administration or the Clinton administration or any other administration you care to name. Patriotism is more than just dissent against the government; it is more than doing your duty as a citizen (whether as a member of the military or exercising your right to vote); it is more than mere nationalism. Patriotism encompasses the ideas of love of your country, of your culture and its people. It is a belief in the morality of the ideals of this country. It is the hope that things can be made "better"; that even though mistakes are made, we as a nation can learn from them and move forward. It is all that and more. I am not a grand public speaker and the words to express my thoughts on this matter are not coming to mind very easily; but I know that my concept of patriotism is manifest in my firm belief that this is indeed the best place on the globe to live, raise a family, and pursue life and happiness. I alos firmly believe that patriotism is a good thing and that it is still alive and well in this country.

I'm with him! :usa:

 

[CSM]

In the aftermath of 9/11, the target was clear...Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the Taliban regime which supported them in Afghanistan. Instead of finishing the job in Afghanistan, Dubbyuh launched an invasion into Iraq on flimsy, if not outright false, pretexts.

Half truths at best. As more and more of the Iraqi documents are released, it becomes more clear that there were no "pretexts" and that the course of action taken was and still is the correct one.

I support my country, and am proud of many of its accomplishments. But the current administration has besmirched the honor and good reputation of this country around the world. Dissent against the government is, after all, a patriotic act.

That is your opinion and not necessarily true either. I think Clinton's administration did more damage to this country than the current one ever will.

AS for "government-persecuting pessimists", just remember that "pessimist" is a term created by pollyanish optimists to describe realists.

Horse puckey and you know it!

Good morning Bully!

 

[Annie]

This just seems to fit in here:

http://jewishworldreview.com/0306/lileks033006.php3

The real culprit in our worldwide image problem

By James Lileks


SecDef Rumsfeld, speaking before the Army War College the other day, graded the way the United States made its case to the world on the war against Islamists. "D plus," he said. "Maybe a D."


He's right. And it's worse than he thinks. Despite the beliefs of some that the Bush team pumps out doublespeak propaganda 24/7 via Fox News mind-control rays, the administration has been unable to persuade millions of Americans that death-cult totalitarians are an existential threat to the civilized world. You'd think the case would be self-explanatory, no? Us equals democracy, whiskey, sexy, as a liberated fellow once summed it up. Them equals theocracy, blood, the burqa. Everyone clear?


Apparently not. It doesn't help that the most vocal and famous elements of the left appear less concerned about the peril posed by the raving nutters, and think Bushies have embarked on some strange, inexplicable crusade to be mean to everyone who doesn't fall down Sunday morning and speak in tongues.


American actors like Gary Busey and Billy Zane appear in anti-U.S. movies for Turkish audiences; piercing intellects like George Clooney spend their time reminding us how the corpse of Joe McCarthy is the real threat to democracy; Western "peace" activists rescued by Spec-Ops from a sword-assisted skull removal couldn't bring themselves to thank the troops, lest anyone suspect that guns might be occasionally useful after all.


You'd call them useful idiots, but it's hard to see the "useful" part.


Most telling event: Yale admits a Taliban spokesman to study in the name of understanding his cultural perspective. The military can't recruit on campus because it discriminates against gays, of course.


But you want to talk about Brokeback Mountain? It's when the government pushes a stone wall on you for being gay. If our institutions of higher learning lack the intellectual courage to tell a Taliban mouthpiece to get lost, how can we expect the rest of the smart set to make the case for the West?


Divided we may be, but that hasn't always stopped liberal democracies from presenting a united front. In World War II the left was squarely behind Hitler-whupping, because they hated fascists, and because — whew! — Uncle Joe got on the right side of that issue in the end. But the hard fuming left was a marginal element in the larger culture; isolationism on the right was perhaps a larger force. It, too, came around.


Both recognized that America, for all its flaws, was something worth defending, particularly since the alternative was an illiberal nightmare. If anyone suggested that America lacked the moral standing to face off with Adolf because some drinking fountains in the South were off limits to "Coloreds," they got a hard look and rolled eyes. Look, pal, we'll fix America after we've saved it.


That sentiment now seems rather antique.


We have an ill-timed failure of confidence in the West, just when we need to assert what sets us apart from the bloody run of human history. Old Europe has a bad case of clay feet and gives constant examples where this sort of cultural timidity leads. In his heart the average Frenchman believes his values have more to offer the world than those of an Algerian village, but he can't say so. He's paralyzed by the official dogma of cultural egalitarianism. No one believes it, but they're better people for pretending they do.


If an excitable imam of a smoldering Paris suburb demanded the use of Notre Dame to call the faithful to prayer, you suspect the French would deconsecrate the place and turn it into a dance club. (As long as no one's happy, everyone must be satisfied.) They will sell themselves the rope with which they are hanged, and console themselves with the fact that it's made of organic hemp.


And how would you grade their ability to convince the enemy they had no faith in their own civilization? A, no doubt. A plus.

 

[GotZoom]

When we are the victim, it's easy for everyone to agree and unite.

However, when we are the agressor, there wil always be people who use that as a way to bash the President and those who agree with the President.

It's sad.

If everyone would agree on "One Nation" (under God or not), instead of party loyalty and finding ways to bring the other people down, I wonder how things would be.

 

[Semper Fi]

You all missed the point. The point is that things could definately be worse and it's not a shameful act to love and support your country.

 

[archangel]

You all missed the point. The point is that things could definately be worse and it's not a shameful act to love and support your country.

I don't believe anyone missed the point...it was just that the comment you made was...how should I say this...soo generic...lacked passion! It would be akin to saying..."I love cookies and milk! My question would be "Why"? :tng:

 

[StoptheMadness1]

I support my country all the time... and the government when it deserves it.

We cannot lose sight of the threats to our liberty that not only come from without, but from within.

We must remember that government, in the hands of corrupt men, is the single most dangerous tool to be wielded against mankind. One example of this is the fact that democide is the one form of mass murder that has afflicted the earth more than any other. Free societies are extremely rare throughout the world.

It is very easy to be caught up in the midst of a patiotic furvor in the aftermath of an event like 9/11, only to turn that "patriotism" into decadent jingoism.

Our precious liberty must be guarded with a vicious passion, and once that liberty is taken, once it has become significantly eroded, the forces responsible for that erosion will have nothing between their dark, hateful desires - and us.

 

[GotZoom]

You all missed the point. The point is that things could definately be worse and it's not a shameful act to love and support your country.

I will also take exception. I understood the point exactly.

If you ask anyone who knows me, they will tell you that I love and support my country to a fault. Not only by words (example, this message board) but also by my actions.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

It is very easy to be caught up in the midst of a patiotic furvor in the aftermath of an event like 9/11, only to turn that "patriotism" into decadent jingoism.

This one line is inconsistent with the rest of your overall message. The globalists who are trying erode national consciousness say stuff like this.

 

[StoptheMadness1]

Your'e right, rtwngAvngr, I guess I didn't word that like I intended to.

Since 9/11 has been brought up, I am reminded of a quote from Gary Hart (senator and member of the CFR) which stated that, just three days after 9/11,

"There is a chance for the President of the United States to use the disaster to carry out what his father a phrase his father used I think only once, and it hasn't been used since and that is a New World Order."

 

[Semper Fi]

Your'e right, rtwngAvngr, I guess I didn't word that like I intended to.

Since 9/11 has been brought up, I am reminded of a quote from Gary Hart (senator and member of the CFR) which stated that, just three days after 9/11,

"There is a chance for the President of the United States to use the disaster to carry out what his father a phrase his father used I think only once, and it hasn't been used since and that is a New World Order."

That is literally the fifth time I've seen you post that :

 

[Gunny]

In the aftermath of 9/11, the target was clear...Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the Taliban regime which supported them in Afghanistan. Instead of finishing the job in Afghanistan, Dubbyuh launched an invasion into Iraq on flimsy, if not outright false, pretexts.

I support my country, and am proud of many of its accomplishments. But the current administration has besmirched the honor and good reputation of this country around the world. Dissent against the government is, after all, a patriotic act.
AS for "government-persecuting pessimists", just remember that "pessimist" is a term created by pollyanish optimists to describe realists.

Dissent against government is NOT a patriotic act. Voicing one's dissent in an appropriate forum is within one's Constitutional rights.

But please spare us attempting to whitewash partisan hackery with the legitimacy of patriotism.

 

[Emmett]

Dissent against government is NOT a patriotic act. Voicing one's dissent in an appropriate forum is within one's Constitutional rights.

But please spare us attempting to whitewash partisan hackery with the legitimacy of patriotism.

touche' gunster!