The new patriotism
: Jonathan Alter in Newsweek is right to make a call for a "new patriotism." He's wrong about most of the rest.autocad 2006 sp1 download
: September 11th changed my view of patriotism, of course. It also changed my view of politics. And weblogs have had an impact, too. autocad 2006 sp1 download
: I was not a George Bush fan, probably never will be. I didn't vote for him and thought he stole the election (spare me your comments; we've covered this turf already; let me just set the scene and we'll move on). I think that his tax cut is the most cynical possible act: borrowing our money from us to to bribe us to vote for him (and it's no way to fix the economy). I wish he had accomplished anything to fix health care. Half his appointments frighten me.
But I support him on homeland security, even considering the missteps, because we have to ... and on going to war in Afghanistan because we had to ... and on Iraq because it was the right war even if he justified it on the wrong reasons (WMD was a bet on the come; humanitarianism was the sure thing).
I did that because I was motivated by a new patriotism that said it was time to see myself as an American -- an American at war -- first, and a partisan second. That, clearly, is how 9.11 changed me.
Weblogs changed me as well, because I find now that I more often take on issues individually, not in party packages and I judge our leaders similarly, an issue at a time. That's why Roger L. Simon says, often and eloquently, that the labels left and right -- and presumably, Democratic and Republican -- are obsolete. autocad 2006 sp1 download
: Now go read Alter's view of patriotism and partisanship and you'll find that he mixes up patriotism and politics in a simplistic stew.
He quotes Britney Spears -- “I think we should just trust the president in every decision he makes,” she told CNN, “and we should just support that, and be faithful in what happens.” -- and says:
Millions of people, most of them Republicans, define themselves politically and define others patriotically by adherence to that simple Spears standard. The Bush White House will do everything it can to identify those voters; play to their sometimes sublimated emotions of fidelity and fear, and turn the first Tuesday in November 2004 into a referendum on the second Tuesday in September 2001. Stay Proud. Stay Safe. Vote Bush.
He then points to the Dean campaign and the Franken book as evidence of resurgent liberalism. And that sets his stage:
Between blind loyalty and blind defiance sit most Americans, still rubbing their eyes in amazement at how much has changed in only two years. In the wrenching aftermath of September 11, the American flag became a security blanket to warm a wounded nation: Stars and Stripes sprouted in even the most left-wing lapels... But soon patriotism moved from a comfort to a cudgel....
Yes, but not in the way you think. If I support the war and the president on certain policies, if I call myself a patriot and wear my flag on my lapel, it's my former fellow travelers of the left or my former friends the Europeans who are beating me over the head with their cudgels.
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: Alter then goes off on a few odd tangents. He coldly handicaps future terrorist attacks and their impact on politics ("If the attack comes in the next year, it’s more likely to hurt him; if it comes just before the election, it would likely lead voters to rally around"). And he complains about a lack of post-9.11 investigations, about WMD, and about the UN -- you know the script -- to return, at last, to his challenge to define a new patriotism.
But then he never defines it. For he tries to define "patriotism" around all these opportunistic issues and around old politics: If you support this issue or that president, are you patriotic? (e.g., "Was it patriotic to invade Iraq when there was no sign of an imminent threat and plenty to suggest that it would seriously detract from the war on Al Qaeda?" Jeesh.)autocad 2006 sp1 download
: Alter misses the point by a century.
Patriotism is much bigger than politics. And the definition of patriotism is no longer in the hands of the politicians and pundits. After 9.11, it is in our hands, for we are all Americans and we are all targets on this new battlefield. We know what it means to be patriotic and it has very little to do with partisanship or politics. We know the price of patriotism.
Patriotism means defending the principles of America over politics. Patriotism means being willing to protect those principles where and when it's necessary. Patriotism means defending your children and your neighbors against those who would attack us because we are American. Patriotism means being willing to go it alone even when your former friends (read: Europeans) snipe at you. Try that on as a new definition.autocad 2006 sp1 download
: Update: See Roger L. Simon on politics, patriotism, and sports.autocad 2006 sp1 download
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