Time and Mr. Stengel Look for Third-Way Patriot

Nobody Wins: Do you get choked up when you see the American flag carried down the street on the 4th of July? Does the sight of a soldier carrying an Iraqi baby in his arms bring a knot of tremendous emotion to your chest? During the seventh-inning stretch at a baseball game, do you stand and sing with reverence for all who gave their lives to keep our country free---or do you sit and tally your scorecard?

Okay, baseball is an American game, so I’ll cut you some slack if you’re under twenty -one and just dropped your beer.

Did you get angry, like I did, when Obama said that he stopped wearing his American flag lapel pin because “he saw that people were wearing a lapel pin but not acting very patriotic?”

And just what does that mean? And this guy wants to be our President?

Why didn’t he question their patriotism, like any decent American, instead of taking his flag pin off? (No…I’m NOT going to get over this, it’s important.)

Hey, if we deserve anything, we deserve a patriotic president; otherwise, we’re all bound to become walking zombies.

So why am I all in a huff about this?

Time Magazine’s July issue was devoted to this very subject: Patriotism. (I try not to buy this stuff, but sometimes I can’t help myself.) The name of the main article was, “The Real Meaning of Patriotism.”

As if Time would know.

Here’s the problem: According to Richard Stengel, who wrote this attempt at redefining the term, we have just got to get over ourselves and our flag. (He says he’s trying to bring us together here.) The Democrats have been screaming for years that the reason they protest so much is because they love their country.

Well, if they love our country, then they should honor the flag.

Here’s Mr. Stengel’s first sentence---

“Patriotism has always been the most abstract of American virtues---which may be why we fight so ferociously over the symbols that help us define it.”

Huh? Well, I don’t know about you, but we’ve only had the eagle and our American flag since the forming of the country. Where’s the fight?

Here’s the definition of a patriot: “A person who loves, supports, and defends his country and its interests.”

Do you see any thing about this definition that is abstract? No, it’s as plain and simple as the concept of hunger. You either crave a hamburger for lunch or you don’t. You’re a patriot or your not.

Anyway, Mr. Stengel goes on, with his mandatory confusion:

“What we need going forward is third-way patriotism.”

What? Is this the “third-way” of Bill Clinton? Is this the Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock ‘third-way’? Will we get yield signs with this new ‘third way’?

Mr. Stengal attacks conservatives for getting upset when the Mexicans don’t assimilate. Mexicans according to him, can be real patriots of America, while flying the flag of Mexico too---just like the Irish do once a year.

What’s amazing is that there are a lot of people that fall for this argument.

First off, the Irish spoke English, and they are Americans. They know who founded our country, and they stand for our flag. They have “assimilated.” The Mexicans have not.

Obama wants us all to learn Spanish…if that’s not proof that they want America to become Mexico I don’t know what is.

Here’s another kicker;

“Patriotism isn’t about honoring and replicating the past; it’s about surpassing it.”

What?

Sure, we all strive to improve America, but throwing the love of your country out is like killing yourself. It’s like saying, “Go ahead, attack us again, I don’t care.”

Mr. Stengel goes on; he loved McCain knocking Washington because---

“He has acknowledged how defective American democracy often is, something Reagan, with his airbrushed patriotism rarely did.”


Airbrushed patriotism? (Go ahead---say a few bad words here.)


“America, where most people hail from somewhere else, that kind of blood and soil patriotism makes no sense.”

Oh, right. Unlike the Japanese, Spanish, and the Russians, who never let others into their countries, any patriotism that we have, according to Mr. Stengal, “makes no sense.” We are not even allowed to be patriotic because we are a mixture of cultures.

Don’t tell me this guy has some kind of degree, Mr. Henry Adams. Let me guess…Harvard?

Okay, so Mr. Stengel thinks he writes clever propaganda. They have to break down America in order to bring in their new ‘third-way,’ which is just an old ‘third-way’ from another old country, far from our shores.

And this unpatriotic country, with ‘airbrushed patriotism’ brought it down.

Mr. Stengel can’t seem to find a country, so I suggest he move to Japan so he taste the wonderful feeling of being a patriot.

He can write an article on why the Japanese play American baseball…let’s give him another chance...it's the American 'way'.