May the real patriots please stand up?
You know, the patriots, the Founding Fathers, or, according to Sarah Palin: Glenn Beck.
It is not unusual to hear talking heads crown each other and their followers with the patriot label as if fighting like it is 1776 for freedom, for America and for the repeal of Obamacare.
But does this talk of patriotism make anyone else nauseas?
My problem with the parade of patriotism is in how the talking heads attempt to use it as leverage to elevate their platforms. An important point is made in the Tao Te Ching that states, “when someone calls something beautiful, it then becomes ugly.”
This is exactly what Palin and others are doing with the patriot label.
If Glenn Beck is a patriot, then those who oppose his beliefs are unpatriotic, un-American and the enemy.
This binary distinction-making sounds eerily similar to "if your not with us, your against us."
However nonsensical, this line of thinking continues to pervade the political scene. Why? It seems easier and more effective to paint things in black and white than realize that things are really grey.
Patriotism should be broadly defined as those who have and share their opinions to improve the United States.
With this definition, anyone who genuinely cares about the United States is a patriot.
Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Bill O'Reilly, then, are patriots in spite of the fact that some of their opinions make me cringe.
Barack Obama, Newt Gingrich, Nancy Pelosi, Rush Limbaugh, Jon Stewart and George W. Bush are patriots because they bring their thoughts to the table.
By expanding the definition of patriotism, there is one less distracting buzzword to keep people from debating the issues and coming together to form a compromise.
But, as the widely YouTube'd GOP candidate for Stark County Treasurer reminds us in his now infamous rant, politics is a blood sport.
Distractions from the issues with name-calling and the use of extreme hyperbole to leverage one’s platform will always be a part of politics.
For example, many do not know that the recent overuse of the extraordinarily crude phrase "shove it down our throats" in politics is nothing new. Thomas Paine, in his famed “Common Sense,” talks about monarchical governments trying to "to cram heredity right down the throats of the vulgar.”
Such ridiculous delivery, similar to the use of patriotism, crowds out the issue itself such that true deliberation becomes an abysmally small fraction of the total discussion. Even accepting this as part of the sausage-making process of politics means that, at the end of the day, the sausage still must be made.
This November, Republicans stand to win back the House and maybe the Senate, as well.
Here is to hoping the patriots find a way to compromise and make meaningful decisions for the country instead of drivel and rhetoric.
Send your drivel to djgarry@asu.edu
