Posted by
T N McCoy on Monday, October 06, 2008 5:27:13 PM
What is patriotism today?
According to USA Today back in July: 'six in 10 of those surveyed in a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll say sporting an American flag pin indicates that a person is patriotic...Barack Obama stopped regularly wearing a flag pin last fall. He said it had become a substitute for "real patriotism"...[Obama] began to wear one more often again this spring...Republican John McCain, a Vietnam War hero, says he occasionally wears the red-white-and-blue on his lapel —de rigueur for many politicians since the 9/11 attacks — because "I'm proud of the American flag."'
So, how can we feel and express patriotism?
In that same poll, it was determined that 80% of those polled felt that supporting US foreign policy was patriotic. 60% also thought that disagreeing with US policy is patriotic.
I think most of us can agree with the latter figures. But speaking for many, I think that disagreeing with US foreign policy is one thing, actively trying to thwart it is another. And those who cater to the adversary by speech or action are not expressing patriotism. They are expressing anti-american obstructionism, pure and simple.
Is it patriotic to threaten to move to a foreign country if a particular politician loses a race? And then reneging on the promise? Personally, those Hollywood 'stars' who threaten this would probably be well gone.
Is it patriotic to countenance groups of youths singing your praises and marching around before an election? Why do some politicians insist on using juveniles who can't even vote or---according to the criminal courts---form a rational opinion? Are we going back to the 1930s?
Is it patriotic to break the law and wear partisan political symbols and shirts to school where the students cannot form a proper opinion and vote? Is it patriotism? Or is it anti-American to flout and break laws designed to protect the youth?
Again, according to USA Today: 'In the poll, taken June 15-19, serving in the U.S. military and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance were seen by a majority of Americans as saying "a great deal" about a person's patriotism.'
There are many politicians who won't profess faith in the military or recite the pledge of allegiance. In the next 'townhall debate', perhaps someone should ask both Presidential contenders to recite the pledge of allegiance. I would expect John McCain to say it fervently. If Barack Obama doesn't try to 'snake oil' his way out of it, he'd probably have to stumble through it.
And since the Liberals have been successfully deleting references to God in the schools of our Country, how do you teach anything historical to our children? If you leave out religion, you have no history to discuss. Abe Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson would be rolling over in their graves every time a modern Liberal speaks.
So, it's refreshing to find a public school, non-partisan musical performance that thwarts these anti-religious efforts and sings easily and thrillingly. Please follow the link below to discover a thrilling and patriotic rendition of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Battle Hymn of the Republic