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Patriotism doesn't mean blind obedience. It means standing up for the Constitution. It doesn't mean rewriting history to gloss over the bad chapters. It means loving your country enough to recognize when we as a nation have done wrong and try not to do it again. It doesn't mean only reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. It's living the Pledge, especially the "Liberty and Justice for all" part of it. In that context, patriotism is a very good thing. Taken too far, it becomes the kind of Fascism that was promoted by Adolf Hitler. Yes, there is a line, and it must never be crossed, for when it is, then patriotism becomes hollow, and not worth the empty words being parroted. When that happens, you are no longer patriotic, but have betrayed the very principles that are the reasons for patriotism in the first place.
I, for one, love my country, and will stand up for the rights of others to criticize it's faults, for it is that very criticism that has kept us from going down a very dark path where freedom and justice no longer exist. Yes, some of the criticism against America I do not like, and I feel that some of the criticism, such as flag burning, is indecent to me. But I do not ever want to forget dark chapters in our history, such as slavery and later lynchings of African Americans, extermination of Native Americans, internment of Japanese citizens, and all the other mistakes we have made, because I love America enough to not wanting to repeat these same mistakes. To stand as a nation, we must remember the bad as well as the good because both the bad and the good is what we are. Let us treasure the good, and, while remembering the bad, throw the bad away. We cannot do that if we never recognize the bad, but are always parroting the good. So let the indecent be indecent, let the good be good, and let us all be free thinkers who will always strive to make us a better nation. Don't ever let anybody persuade you that our best times are behind us. Our best times are always, and will always be, ahead of us. Let us work towards that end.
/RANT
Article is here.
PS - And please vote for Gary Johnson in November.
It occurs to me. This is in no way the province of the President, and I think that it's important that Conservatives (who will be sure to blow a gasket the next time a Democrat tries to set social policy for education) note that now.
