ON PATRIOTISM

“The patriotism feared by liberals isn’t the standard American-flag-pinned-on-your-lapel-patriotism (hardly anyone other than Barack Obama is against that). The kind they are afraid of is that which was stirred in us by the attacks on Pearl Harbor and again on 9/11—the kind that motivated Americans of all races and political persuasions to pull together in the duty of our common citizenship and the common cause of enduring American ideals. Liberals are threatened by such patriotism because they worry that their position—their belief that they, rather than we as free people, are the better rulers of our lives—will be usurped by a rebirth of Thomas Jefferson’s understanding of self-reliance and independence. They also worry that an increase in such patriotism will continually motivate men from all walks of life... to join our military and fight for the preservation of this great nation. It’s hard to convince men who are risking their lives in service to this nation that this nation isn’t as good as it once was or that we need to turn the reins of our government over to Democrats so they can rescue us from ourselves by ‘the audacity of hope’.” —A.W.R. Hawkins