Who Are The True Patriots Today

As we know, there now exists a mindset among political partisans that considers their adversaries to be unpatriotic. Therefore, I would like to explore the question of what patriotism is, what it is not, and who has the right to claim that mantle. Most will agree that any definition of patriotism would include a love and devotion to one’s country, and by that definition, it should not be political at all. In theory, people with different values and philosophies, even vast differences can all be seen as loving their country, as being patriots. However, I think that we can also agree that if one political party or, faction was harming the country, either deliberately or through a misguided agenda, that would be decidedly unpatriotic. Now we find ourselves in a political environment that has gone from constructive disagreement to one in which each side is convinced that the other is in fact, literarily destroying America. The reality is that there much going on today that can harm the nation to the point of destruction. The only question is what faction or party is responsible:
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Patriotism is one of the most whored out words in the American vocabulary , and for the last thirteen years patriotism has been the last refuge of the scoundrel. I've always gone with the qoute "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and supporting your government when it only deserves it." to sum up my feeling about the issue.

 

Right on. It's used by politicians when necessary, one only needs to look at the build up to the Iraq War.

 

Yes, this is a classic example. I did two deployments to Iraq, and heard the whole "you don't support the troops" slogan tossed around so much it made me sick.

 

Tea Party Republicans.

 

'patriot' is almost a useless word.. it has been hijacked by any & every 'ism' to prop up their faulty reasoning & ideology.

If you mean 'American patriot', it is a little less vague. That is the constitutional, historical american, not a mealy mouthed liberal whining about political correctness. Think John Wayne. Samuel Adams. Patrick Henry. Those who 'get' the american ideal, & are willing to fight for it. Whiny liberals who want free stuff do not fit the description. They can whimper about grievances for years, & do nothing about it. They are stuck in grievance mode.. they have made an ideology out of it. American patriots, otoh, know what they want, & will fight & die for it. They want liberty, justice, & truth... things the progressive left know nothing about. They only know spin, propaganda, & appearance. But they have no heart to fight for their illusions, so if it gets to that, they will fail. They are whiny cowards, wanting to mooch off of those who work, & taking no responsibility for themselves.

Was that a little what you had in mind?

 

Really? You might recall that your Catholic church condemned Paul Ryan for his economic policies that hurt the poor. Is that patriotic?

 

Nice rant, now let me ask you this:

which party engages in the following activities and are they, by and stretch of the imagination “patriotic”

• Engaged in the systematic obstruction of the quest for positive change in our country in areas such as employment, reduction in poverty, education and science, while pretending that the only problems that we have as a nation are too much taxing and spending, while ignoring most everything else.

• Manufactured fiscal crisis’ and hold the country hostage to protect the wealth of the few at the expense of the other 99% of the people and who’s intransigence caused the country’s credit rating to be downgraded, risking default and precipitating a government shutdown all for political gain.

• Put ideological purity ahead of the national interest and opposes programs and policies that they once supported just because the opposition is putting them forth now.
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• Derided social programs as socialism and deliberately and disingenuously confuses them with Marxism and Fascism, while pretending that anyone can get by in today’s America if only they would try harder, which amounts to turning our back on the most vulnerable members of society ,which weakens the nation as a moral beacon and a sustainable society.


• Spread conspiracy theories about such things as impending martial law and the staging of a tragic massacre , the Presidents religion and nationality, or stirs up fears about the UN as an excuse for blocking treaties that protect women, disabled people and the environment that should not even be political.


• Denied that the religious freedom, enshrined in the constitution that they claim to love, applies equally to people of all faiths, or no faith at all, which is in no way in keeping with the vision of the founders and undermines the underlying principals of our nation.



• Sought to adopt an interpretation of the constitution that would result in such limited federal powers as to revert the role of government to the era of the Federalist Papers-creating a loose “federation” of states, while toying with secession. In that America, states would be free to flout the equal protection mandate of the constitution, the bill of rights, the voting rights act and the civil rights act-and some surely would.

• Chosen to do nothing to counter sexism, racism, homophobia and xenophobia which makes us look like the ideologically and theoretically driven third world oligarchies that we should be rising above

• Advocating a foreign policy based on fear, domination, arrogance and jingoism eroding our standing in the world, creating more enemies, and alienating friends

• Seeking to regulate women’s bodies, and pass constitutional amendments restricting people’s right to marry who they wish, but not regulate the corporations that pollutes the air and water , avoid taxes and exploit workers


• Frequently disrespected the president and first lady with absurd charges and derogatory words and doing so is dangerous, and subversive because all of these things weaken America economically and morally, undermine national security, and bring scorn and ridicule upon the country.

Let me close by saying that I am well aware of the fact that various dictionaries will also define a Patriot, in part, as “a person who regards himself or herself as a defender of individual rights, against presumed interference by the federal government.” In other words “liberty vs. “tyranny”, words frequently heard in today’s political discourse. And, this has been used against me by small government zealots as proof that I, who believe in a government that can and should work to better the lives and to protect all of its people can’t be a patriot. But what is liberty, and what is tyranny? Some appear to think of liberty as having license to exploit others without government oversight; the freedom to discriminate, to engage in hateful acts and speech, and to carry assault weapons. Some do not recognize that there are limits to freedom as well as responsibilities that go with it. Those who think that way are not even part of civilized society. Rather, they are in fact a threat to the liberty of others by virtue of their extreme interpretation of the word “liberty”, their own liberty that is. Those same people will cry tyranny at anything that the government does to rein in those individual liberties for the greater good, showing a colossal ignorance and lack of appreciation of the enormous freedoms that we do enjoy. And that my friend’s is not patriotic. So tell me my friends, which party, which ideology represents the true patriots of today?

 

Parties? F*** parties. I don't give a rat's a$$ about parties. Now liberty, justice, & truth... that's something i can get on board for. My definition stands, unrefuted. An american patriot is one who holds to the authority of the constitution, & the values of the declaration of independence, & the founders' writings. Enemies of america want to destroy the constitution. They are not 'american patriots', but enemies. You can try to spin it, or redefine things to fit your left wing agenda, but the truth is there, staring you in the face. The enemies of america want to destroy the constitution, & the patriots want to preserve it.

 

Patroitism is just one of many terms that are used to divide humans.

 

Don't get steamed I too stand by my words. I am the PROGRESSIVE PATRIOT

 

No steam here.. just clarifying. Parties are not the subject, as far as i knew.

 

I am against economic policies that hurt the poor.

However, I will say right now that I know next to nothing about the various economic policies that various political parties have. I have never understood economics and I doubt that I ever will.

 

OMG I'm flabbergasted! You said that the Tea party are the true patriots but you know nothing about what they stand for on economic issues. Is it that you just see them as social conservatives as you are? Many are but many don't care about social issues. Rather, they are deficit hawks and anti tax zealots who are willing to gut social programs for the poor before raising taxes on the rich. If you don't know that, you need to educate yourself . They're against your religious beliefs in more ways than they support them. At least your honest about your ignorance.

 

Jibberish. America is unique. With all of our admiration of the Democratic Republics of Greece and Rome, Our founders developed a government of checks and balances which, (to their shegrin) gives power to the people. For the People to be represented in order to form the society. What Progressives and Leftists and Communists and Socialists like you don't understand is that you are the enemy. You must either change your perspective and EDUCATE yourself into what went into the documents which freed ALL MEN in America, or be an idiot. NOTHING that you aspire to or recommend in socialism has Ever Worked Anywhere. It always ends in murder and censorship. You cannot possibly be strong enough to physically even live under the circumstances you desire.

 

Well, I'm not sure what it means to be a patriot but I have a feeling I'm NOT one. I don't have a rosy view of all the (*)(*)(*)(*) we've pulled on others - even from the beginning - nor the (*)(*)(*)(*) that Uncle Sam has pulled on his own people. I was almost his victim in a politically bs, worthless, drummed up war. Screw that!

I like it here but I can like it most anywhere. And given the lying, corrupt sacks of (*)(*)(*)(*) our idiot voters put into leadership positions in this nation, I'm REALLY not impressed enough by any of this to be very gung ho over flag waving. So far he's tried to kill me for nothing and now he's preoccupied with trying to steal my (*)(*)(*)(*) at every turn. Nope. Count me out of that patriot bs!

 

I voted with most others for Everyone in his own way. I don't know many people who don't love their home. Even if you see home as "a place for coming from and dreams of going to, (which with any luck will never come true)" you still love it. And that's all that's really needed to be a True Patriot. Everyone on this board knows that I'm about as liberal/progressive as they come but I still admire Ronald Reagan and think he was among our better Presidents. He was conservative and not very smart to boot, but he was a person of basic decency and general good will, so he did good by the country and for the people, sometimes in line with his beliefs and often in spite of them.

 

I support them because they are more against gay marriage and legalized abortion than more moderate Republicans.

 

And that's what's important of course...no matter that they are unchristian in many more ways.?? You're on an ill fated and wrong minded crusade. I will ignore you now because you're beyond reason, admittedly ignorant, incapable of serious debate, and therefore not worth by time

 

You must refrain from carrying on like this. I'm a communist and a socialist? Please show me where I said that I advocate government owning the means of production which everyone would work for, and doing away with free enterprise and private property. You should know the meaning of words before hurling them at people

 

Your priorities are not rational. These people who are against abortion wont give a damn about that child once born. They will deprive it of health care, proper nutrition, early child hood education and a living wage for the parents. Does that make any sense to you ? They are not really pro life, they are pro fetus. Get an
education!

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/11/20/paul-ryans-poverty-plan/

http://www.salon.com/2013/11/20/ted_cruz_reveals_hes_a_thin_skinned_hypocrite/

 

Does not the true Christian lead by example rather than legislation? And isn't this what Pope Francis is telling us now? I'm not religious but I admire religious people who devote themselves to helping others and I think the religious impulse to aid the sick and comfort the suffering considerably smoothens a very rough world.

One person helping one baby from a poor family probably prevents more abortions than a hundred screaming harridans demonstrating outside an abortion clinic. The former proves that help is available, the latter just strengthens someone's resolve to live their own life as they wish.

You can't spread religion by forcing it on people. Laws don't change people's hearts. "A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."

Quite a few Tea Partiers I've talked to have no problem with abortion. "If it means less n*&%#%s I'm all for it" one told me. (No, I didn't get him on SmartPhone, I don't have one though I could have bought my digital camera, dammit)

 

Why can't I do both? Also, just so you know, I actually do both things. I help people in real life and I also try to vote in such a way that laws are passed to eliminate evil from society. I am not trying to spread religion by getting these laws passed, I am only trying to eliminate or prevent those things which I believe are evil.

 

You are going to have to prove that people who are against abortion don't "give a damn about that child once born". I have reason to believe otherwise. We have a crisis pregnancy clinic in my area which I fully support. Not only do they provide free pregnancy tests and information about abortion and STDs but they also provide free clothing, diapers, and other such help to those who do choose to give their child life.

Also, just so you know, it is a myth that pro-lifers do only care about preventing abortion. I am a pro-lifer and I know others as well. I guarantee you that we care just as much about pre-born babies as we do babies after they are born.

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If I am ignorant then inform me. How are they unchristian?