Quote of the Day

"Guard against the postures of pretended patriotism."

 —George Washington, Farewell Address, September 17, 1796.

Even better from the same source:

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands.

Patriotism

Next to religion, I don't trust patriotism:

“When a whole nation is roaring patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart.”--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Of course, I have always liked Ambrose Bierce's definitions from the Devil's Dictionary:

PATRIOT, n.
One to whom the interests of a part seem superior to those of the whole. The dupe of statesmen and the tool of conquerors.
PATRIOTISM, n.
Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name.

In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first.

Shawna Forde Found Guilty

She was the leader of the Minutemen American Defense Group, and as such felt well within her rights to murder illegals in cold blood. The country's better off, right?

Do you notice the similarity between the Minuteman attitude towards illegal aliens and the gun-owner attitude towards criminals as demonstrated by Jay G.?  In both cases the targets of their animosity are sub-humans who are completely disposable.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

A Recent Comment on Bob's Blog

Here's the post.

Here's my comment:

Weer'd, Your pride-swelling is nice, but where were you when your country needed servicemen in uniform? You would have been about the right age for one of the Iraq wars. Where were you?

Bob, Your silly remark, "You want to let the criminals have a monopoly on force against the law abiding — be glad we don’t see you as an enemy." just shows how out of touch you are with reality. How many DGUs have you executed personally? Have you had occasion to brandish your weapon a time or two to frighten all these criminals away who have the monopoly?

No, you haven't. You're just a paranoid frightened man, like many gun owners, who feels more secure with a gun. Then you go through all this blustering nonsense to justify it.

I was kidding the other day about your shooting yourself in the foot. I hope you never have an accident with your beloved toys. I hope no one ever steals one of them from you and uses it to kill someone. I hope you or one of your family members never get so depressed that you or they turn to the gun for a solution to that. But all these things are more likely to happen than that you'll ever have to use the gun to save the day. Your fantasy is very dangerous for yourself and others.

Don't you get sick and tired of flag-waving guys like Weer'd who never did military service themselves? I think they should just keep quiet about it. What do you think?

And, what about Bob, continually beating that drum about being prepared for the criminals. Where does he live, in the ghetto?

Please leave a comment.

Free Speech or Sedition

Joe Klein wrote a wonderfully succinct post on Swampland.

On the Chris Mathews Show Sunday, I said that some of the right-wing infotainment gasbags--people like Glenn Beck etc.--were nudging up close to the edge of sedition. This has caused a bit of a self-righteous ruckus on the right. Let me be clear: dissent isn't sedition. Questioning an Administration's policies isn't sedition. But questioning an Administration's legitimacy in a manner intended to undermine or overthrow it certainly is. A rally like this yesterday in South Carolina is a good example of seditious speech. It's not illegal--unless actions are taken to overthrow the government in question--but it is disgraceful and the precise opposite of patriotism in a democracy.

This is something that keeps coming up. Where is the line between patriotism and treason? We looked at it when we discussed the Oath Keepers, and it came up in a big way in the Adkisson case.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Mudrake on the Threepers and Oath Keepers

Man with the Muckrake posted an article the other day about the Threepers and Oath Keepers. The post included a picture of an American military man with patches on his uniform. We've talked about these guys before.

What I think is that this soldier and many of his comrades in arms were easily duped into believing the propaganda that the Bush White House and the Pentagon fed them. Simply, they were victims of an excellent and pernicious propaganda campaign foisted upon them by a knot of political ideologues who gathered together in the White House: the Neocons. It was the Neocons and the PNAC group who had, not the interest of the American people in mind, but rather a narrow self-serving political agenda and used the Armed Forces of this nation to complete their cunning plan.

In fact, this political agenda is exactly what the Three Percenters and Oath Keepers rail against in their credos. Amazing! Absolutely amazing, yet it is clear that propaganda techniques, when wrapped around the flag and Patriotism, will move many to, in fact, obey orders that are clearly not in the interest of this nation at all.

What's your opinion? How could these so-called patriots accept the lies and chicanery which got us into Iraq in the first place? Isn't that contrary to their beliefs, as Mudrake asks?

Please leave a comment.

Patriotism

Mudrake wrote a great post about patriotism.

When I was a kid, the word ‘patriot’ brought with it a rush of warm, proud feelings. Stories of the Revolution and those Patriots flooded my brain and lifted my spirits. All of the kids wanted to be patriots like our heroes in the history books.

When I hear that word today, no such feelings arise; rather, my brain signals danger. They have corrupted that perfectly good word. The extreme right wing here in America. They have hijacked ‘patriotism’ and twisted it into a code word for hate of ’the other.’

The Southern Poverty Law center just released a study documenting a 244 percent increase in the number of conspiracy-minded, anti-government “Patriot” groups in a single year. Militias — the paramilitary arm of the “Patriot” movement — were a major part of the increase. Like other extremists, “Patriot” groups have been fueled by anger over immigration, the troubled economy and an array of initiatives by President Obama.

What's your opinion? Do you think it's silly for people to dress up like 18th century Minutemen and go to demonstrations? Are these people misguided or just passionate?

Please leave a comment.

Glenn Beck's Popularity

The Los Angeles Times reported that Glenn Beck's popularity has not suffered although many of his sponsors have joined a boycott of his show.

Beck attracted 2.81 million viewers Monday, his third-largest audience since his show launched on Fox News in January, according to Nielsen Media Research data provided by the network. On Tuesday, nearly 2.7 million viewers tuned in, his fifth-largest viewership to date. Beck posted his second-highest viewership ever Wednesday, attracting more than 3 million viewers for the hour.

I must admit, in this video, I find him very convincing. Suddenly, it doesn't seem so unbelievable that intelligent people who are not fanatics watch his show. Tammy said as much in a recent comment on another thread.

YES - thinking, intelligent people DO watch and believe him. I am one of them. I have a college degree, have worked in the public, private and non-profit workplace. I have a very high IQ, I own guns, and I'm a woman.

What's your opinion? Tammy said she believes Glenn Beck is sincere when he cries on camera. Do you believe that? I suppose that's exactly where people diverge. If you buy his crying act, the rest is easy to take, all the rousing patriotic talk, all the eloquent disparaging of the Obama administration. But, if you think he's faking when he cries, if you notice that at times there are no tears to go with the choked voice, then you might tend to take the rest with a grain of salt.

What do you think?