I admit that I'm a sucker for the cheap emotionalism of the symbols of patriotism. I choke up when a Cub Scout Den or the old guys from the VFW carry the colors in a 4th of July parade. I hold my hand over my heart when the National Anthem is sung at ball games. I swell with pride when the performing group I'm part of sings "America the Beautiful."
And I'm mad as hell that the Republicans have hijacked symbols of Democratic values to make cheap appeals to voters at the expense of those of us who actually believe in the ideals espoused by those symbols.
Republicans appeal to the baser instincts of voters by making cheap and false allusions to the powerful symbols of our Democracy. You know that the ads are already in place: "Democrats are against a flag desecration amendment - they must hate America."
What makes me so angry about this is that the most-powerful symbols of America and American patriotism that the Republicans use against us espouse Democratic ideals. Let's look at a few.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Who can fail to recognize that the values professed by the Pledge are Democratic values? When was the last time a Republican called for "liberty and justice for all" and meant it. Feh. Not in my lifetime. The Pledge is a Democratic document.
I know there are some people who have trouble with two words in the Pledge. Words that weren't in the original. I'm fine with them, because of another document that I believe is the purest expression of Democratic values -- The Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States. Yes, the Bill of Rights is a Democratic document. Try to tell me it isn't. The only minor argument Democrats may have about the Bill of Rights is the interpretation of the Second Amendment. As for me, I'm fine with the concept of a "well-regulated militia", the alternative being much worse.
We may quibble about the usefulness of the Second Amendment in our modern world, but the rest of the document is pure Democratic values. All of it. Let's see a Republican try to defend their party's position on the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments. They can't. They don't BELIEVE in those amendments. Those amendments - those fundamental rights guaranteed since 1791 by our Founding Fathers to all Americans (and to everyone living on American soil) -- are Democratic. Ours completely and exclusively. Let a Republican argue those facts. They can't. And they know it. So they blather on about what is, in essence, their own cowardice. "Security" is a code word for being a coward. Yes, we call them "chickenhawks", but that's just polite code for being a scaredy little coward, cowering under the bed hoping Daddy will chase away the monsters in the closet. I mean, honestly, what ever happened to "Give me liberty or give me death"? It's been replaced by sniveling little weasels crying "Save me!" at the sight of mere shadows. Wimps.
But back to the Pledge. Those two words upset some Democrats. To me, they're an expression of the vitality and of the power of the First Amendment--a Democrat's amendment if ever there was one. Because I'm allowed, under the provisions of the First Amendment, to define "under God" any way I see fit. I can define "God" as the God of Abraham, as Isis, as Vishnu, or as the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Or as a meaningless word. My choice. Democratic ideal. Period. The Pledge is MINE. Completely and totally. Even with those two little words.
Here's another example. A wonderful icon of American patriotism. A beautiful song. Let's start with the second verse.
Oh beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years; thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears.
Of course, anyone who's a fan of Ray Charles will recognize that as the second verse of America the Beautiful. As Democratic a song as was ever penned.
For how can "alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears" except by the application of Democratic ideals of liberty and justice for all? Ending human tears by ending poverty, hunger, homelessness, inequality; those are Democratic ideals.
And the first verse of the song is almost protean in its adherence to the ideals expressed by Democrats.
Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above thy fruited plain.
How can that not be Democratic? Pu-lease. It's as if the whole song was penned in support of Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth. Tell me it isn't. No really. You're delusional if you say that anything in that wonderful song espouses Republican values. "America the Beautiful" is MY song. Republicans are NOT allowed to sing it. EVER!
I'll leave with a last symbol of our American patriotism. Another powerful symbol. One that I think Democrats need to adopt and nurture. Yes, I'm talking about Lady Liberty herself. The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States by the government of France in 1876 in honor of the centennial of our country's birth. It still stands today as a beacon of hope to everyone in the world, and as an expression of American values that ONLY the Democratic Party believes in.
Give me your tired and poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. I lift my lamp beside the golden door! -- Emma Lazarus.
I mean, really people. Is there one Republican who believes in the sentiments expressed by the Statue of Liberty? "Tired and poor"? You must be kidding. "Wretched refuse"? Only if you define "refuse" as being a multimillionaire who needs an estate tax break so that grandkids Muffy and Kyle can continue to snort as much blow as they can buy up their privileged, rhinoplastied noses. Get real.
I would love it if Democrats everywhere in America stood up to the right-wing noise machine and took back OUR symbols of patriotism. Then let's talk about who loves our country more. Because America is more than just the dirt we stand on and cheap platitudes mouthed by right-wing "pundits". America is the living expression of the vision of our Founding Fathers and the sacrifice of the patriots who have defended that vision for more than 200 years. And that vision is a Democratic vision.