yesterday was a great day. july 4th is worth celebrating. there’s something totally right with the way america celebrates independence day. we eat food that wouldn’t be the first choice of any legitimate medical professional, we recognize the outstanding job our military men and women have done and are doing now, and we shoot off big, noisy, pretty explosives. some of us are even lucky enough to watch some live baseball games. 🙂 what’s not to love about that? if you want to be cynical and adopt the predictable connection the left would make with the fireworks, and the explosives going off in iraq right now, go ahead. however, i believe that the left’s opposition to the way we celebrate july 4th is about more than just being against the war in iraq. it is about seeing patriotism as blind support of everything our country does and says. that’s not what patriotism means.
why is that it has suddenly become popular to oppose patriotism? is it such a crime to believe that the united states is the best country in which to live and that it is a country that gives its citizens the best opportunity for happiness and prosperity? is it so terrible to show respect to the men and women of our military, whether or not we agree with their mission? that’s what i would consider patriotism. we can have an overall positive view of the united states without whitewashing the flaws we do have as a country. there can be dissent. there’s nothing wrong with objecting to the policies of the bush administration on various subjects. many of us do. the problem is that what may have started out as honest, principled disagreement has turned into america-bashing.
here’s the difference between dissent and america-bashing. dissent says, “i disagree with this policy for reasons x, y, and z. here’s what we should do instead.” america-bashing is something that has now become chic for the elite enlightened leftists. the message generally expressed is less of a constructive criticism and it is primarily designed to make an emotional appeal to the conspiracy theorists.
here’s a good example of what i’m talking about, from our favorite pro-peace advocate, cindy sheehan.
The star-spangled banner, which I can now see whipping in the wind outside of an airport terminal where I am writing this from does not fill me with pride: it fills me with shame and that flag symbolizes sorrow and corruption to me right now. The flag represents so much lying, fixed elections, profiting by the war machine, high gas prices, spying on Americans, rapid erosion of our freedoms while BushCo literally gets away with murder, torture and extreme rendition, contaminating the world with depleted uranium, and illegal and immoral wars that are responsible for killing so many. A symbol which used to represent hope to so many around the world now fills so many with disgust.
i am probably going to catch a little flak for writing this, but I sincerely believe that there are some on the left who are rooting for america to fail in iraq. they keep bringing up vietnam as an example for how we should handle iraq. we lost in vietnam. do we really want to adopt a strategy based on a war that we lost? it’s one thing to say that we need to look at whether we have made enough progress in iraq at this point, or whether we need to re-adjust our strategy to deal with the current status on the ground. the goal should be to finish the job. the strategy should focus on the best way to do that.
you can disagree with the bush administration on iraq. you can be violently opposed to some other policy decisions he’s made. the freedom to speak out against any of these bush policies is a freedom that was bought and paid for with the lives of the united states military. that’s why we need to respect their sacrifice, regardless of our feelings about their current mission. we need to make sure they have the resources they require to finish the job in iraq. once that happens, both sides will get what they want – the troops will start coming home.
Technorati Tags: patriotism, july 4th, dissent
my theory? (well, you asked!)
People in the 30’s 40’s 50’s were uber patriotic. Their kids rebelled against them – these are the kids of the vietnam era – and they hate patriotism. They think it is the stuff of Rubes, of guileless, simple folk who were of their parents generation. This was seen in the demonstrations of the 60’s 70’s.
Fast forward to now, and that vietnam generation is now the policy setting generation. They are the people in power at NPR and ABC. So, their side of the tale is what we see.
Ironically (twice over) – their parents’ generation saw a lot more “real life” than these folks ever did. They were raised where disease flourished (no antibiotics). They lived through a world war. They have more reason to be disaffected, and yet are more thankful.
Also ironic is that the kids of the vietnam era – just in their 20’s – 30’s now – are more conservative than they are. What goes around comes around.
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Excellent post and right on point. How do those in the media miss the good things that America does around the world?
Out of all of the wars that have been fought since the revolution, who can name one war that America took something for itself?
Birdwoman,
Your theory is definitely worth considering. Right now I would have to say that the media sure isn’t supporting the idea that America is a country worthy of respect. I think it has more to do with Bush hatred than anything else. I could be wrong about that.
Bill,
I sure can’t think of any war like what you are describing. Some might suggest that we invaded Iraq for its oil. That is a rather cynical view of the reasons for the Iraq war – that we invade foreign countries to put money in the pockets of big oil. I disagree with that theory, but even if it was true, we certainly haven’t gotten any tangible benefit as far as oil and gas prices, have we?
The media doesn’t want to see the positive things America has done for the world. You can’t get ratings out of good news. That’s what bloggers are for, to balance out all of the negativity out there. 🙂
Wow!
All of these diatribes abusing the media, yet all I saw on July 4th (outside of the day’s headlines) were stories about WWII veterens, stories about people who lost their children in Iraq and stories about immigrants. I didn’t see a SINGLE STORY CRITICAL OF THE USA.
And that’s as it should be. This is a great nation. A great experiment. And as we are a continuing experiment, sometimes we get stuff wrong. I very much disagree with Sheehan and very much disagree with your using her as an example of normal left-wing thought. She’s an angry mother that lost her son. As such, I forgive her hatred, but I don’t share it.
Bush has failed at so much he set out to do. His war in Iraq has further destabalized the world, his tax cuts have led to record debt, his education plans have led to more failing schools.
But Bush is not America. We are America. We chose Bush (and yes fellow libbies, we need to accept that “we” chose him, we are one nation, red and blue alike), but Bush isn’t the first bad choice we made, if you even think he is a bad choice. We went on to do good things after many Presidents who weren’t too popular.
I like Independence Day because it reminds me that, left anf right alike, we all love our country. I repsect you for that, even if we may disagree on how to run it. The goal of a democratic society is to allow open debate and rational discourse among the people decide the direction of the government.
In the original post I criticized the left, which does include many in the media. I still think it’s fair to do that. It’s possible that you didn’t see any negative stories about America from the mainstream media on July 4th. That doesn’t indicate a permanent change for them, just a temporary break from their usual coverage.
Sometimes America does get stuff wrong. But shouldn’t the criticism focus on ways we can improve and change, as opposed to just complaining about how much the left believes Bush has ruined our country?
I never said that Sheehan represented everybody on the left. Of course not. She has a right to say whatever she wants, but that doesn’t mean we have to attach credibility to it just because she lost a son in Iraq.
Terrorists are destabilizing the world. They would do so regardless of the war in Iraq and what President Bush does. Tax cuts are a problem when there are no corresponding spending cuts. There’s no question that Bush, with the collusion of the Republican Congress, has caused tremendous damage with all this massive spending. I’ve previously criticized the administration for this. I agree about NCLB.
Your point that “we are America” is something I also feel strongly about. We need to keep the politicians in both parties accountable to the people they represent. It’s part of our responsibility as citizens of this country.
I echo your last statement on Independence Day, and I appreciate that, even though we disagree on a few things, we can both acknowledge that we live in a great country.