When I was in grade school the war in Vietnam was coming to an end. Another student asked our teacher about it during a Social Studies class, and he said he believed the war was a mistake and should never have been fought. I said something along the lines of, “Don’t you think it’s unpatriotic to be critical of the war when people’s lives are still on the line?” My teacher looked me in the eye and asked me if I agreed with the slogan “my country right or wrong”? Without hesitation I answered “Yes!”, thinking my patriotism was on full display. With sadness in his voice he said, “Then you would have made a good nazi.”
That is the day I learned the difference between blind untethered loyalty, and Patriotism. With that one exchange my teacher etched into my mind that loyalty that isn’t anchored in clearly articulated values can be incredibly dangerous and even self-defeating.
Unfortunately, that’s a lesson modern Republicans have never learned. As a result, when they look around their Unite the Right rallies and see confederates (i.e. literal traitors to the USA), nazis, white supremacists and a dog’s breakfast of Russia-aligned hard right nationalists, it doesn’t register in their minds that they have sided with America’s enemies.
Somehow republicans still see themselves as patriots, despite having clearly aligned with enemies of the United States. The basis of their unifying beliefs appears to be opposition to the foundational idea of equal protections under the law.
Here’s the truth; American patriots don’t ally themselves with America’s enemies.
Which brings me back to the slogan “My country right or wrong”. When the country is wrong, patriots work to make it right. When the country has drifted from its foundational values, true patriots work to get it back on track. And in 2018, that means patriots are voting against the nazis, against the traitors, against the racists and against their allies in the republican party. Make no mistake; it is under the banner of the GOP that the nazis, racists and traitors have found common cause in their fight against American values, tradition and democracy itself.
Tomorrow America has the chance to repudiate the misguided fanatics on the political right. Republicans have perverted American values in an effort to suppress democracy and attack the poor and disadvantaged. They are literally and figuratively aligned with America’s enemies. That they do so while claiming patriot status reveals the depth of their delusions and depravity. Unfortunately, that is visible all the way to the very leadership of the party.
On November 6th restore American democracy by voting for Democrats and returning accountability to Washington.