If you were to ask Americans whether Democrats or Republicans are the most patriotic, I'm pretty sure Republicans would come out on top. Most of us who read Daily Kos would question that, but I think we all sort of know that patriotism is part of the Republican brand. Yes, Romney forgot to thank the troops at the RNC and then said it wasn't important, but usually they are the ones waving flags and chanting USA!, USA!, whining about lapel pins, and so on.
Now I'm not big on the whole concept of patriotism; I am not convinced that our country is truly better than every other one, or that we should even see ourselves in that sort of competition, let alone that we ought to be bragging to the rest of the world that we're number one. But if Republicans want to think that they are so patriotic, whatever they think it means, there are a couple of things (besides Swiss bank accounts) that I would like to see thrown back at them.
First one is taxes. If you want to shrink the government, fine. But if you want to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq at the same time, and you aren't willing to pony up the money to pay for that, well that's just unpatriotic! Come on, your country needs you! We're fighting the terrorists over there so that we don't have to fight them over here and end up with a smoking gun in the form of a mushroom cloud, and you can't be bothered to make a small sacrifice for your country by paying a little extra in taxes? You must hate America. How can you call yourself a patriot?
I can honestly say that even during the Iraq war, even though it made me furious to see my money wasted that way, I wished, and said so often, that they would raise our taxes. Since we had chosen, as a country, to start the war whether I liked it or not, I felt that as a American I should be willing to pay for it. But Republicans didn't think so.
The second point is probably more controversial, because it has to do with military service. Of course we should respect our troops, particularly during a time of war, and I would not try to downplay their service and sacrifice. However, I think their is a contradiction if you want to drown government in a bathtub but then think it's such a noble pursuit to go into the military. Because let's not forget, military personnel are government employees, and we pay their salaries. And talk about a bloated, wasteful, government program! Yes, we need to keep this country safe, but my tax dollars are paying for way more military power than I will ever need, and more than I ever wanted to pay for. So when I see all those fine people in uniform, I appreciate them , but I also see my tax dollars going to the ultimate government make-work program. I think that should be part of the discussion when people say they support more military spending and think they are being patriotic.
Anyway, just a couple of thoughts to knock Republicans off their pedestals when they start talking about how much they love America.