I hope that Lou Dobbs loses whatever new job he hopes to get to an immigrant.



That's all.

"Men are not punished for their sins, but by them."
-Elbert Hubbard

In France, "patriotism" is a completely foreign idea. While most of the French citizenry enjoy living in their home country, the idea that they should somehow feel especially proud to have been born in that specific region of the world is ludicrous.

Here in the US, however, patriotism is paramount. Following the 9/11 attacks and leading up to the invasion of Iraq, many Conservative pundits successfully created an air of fear, partly based on reality, but mostly based on the desire for political advantage. They instilled the idea in the heads of much of the American populous that to dissent was essentially un-American. Despite the obvious fact that, when speaking of our origins, dissent is about as American as you can get, millions of our citizenry were sucked into this ridiculous idea that waving a flag and singing dreadfully annoying Lee Greenwood songs somehow made you a better American.

That's not my kind of Patriotism. To me, patriotism isn't waving an American flag around or loudly stating your willingness to bleed on the stripes to keep them red. Patriotism isn't putting your hand over your heart as you recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Patriotism isn't wearing a flag lapel pin or refusing to admit that America makes mistakes. To me, patriotism is working hard to make America a country from which your children will be proud to have been born, not because we tell them to be, but because they inherently are. Patriotism is knowing what the different aspects of the flag represent. Patriotism is teaching children what the thirty-one words to the Pledge of Allegiance actually mean.

There have been many studies done on the historical competency of American students, most of which have returned disheartening results. A study done in September in Oklahoma (a very 'patriotic' state), for example, revealed that a mere 23% of high-schoolers questioned knew who the first President of the United States was.
Perhaps our children would be better served by being provided a decent education rather than a swift indoctrination.

Typically, I reserve some of my favorite relevant quotes for the end of the blog, but sometimes I feel that what I'm trying to say has been said before by someone much smarter than me. This is one of those times. Adlai Stevenson had this to say about patriotism in 1952:

We talk a great deal about patriotism. What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest that what we mean is a sense of national responsibility which will enable America to remain master of her power — to walk with it in serenity and wisdom, with self-respect and the respect of all mankind; a patriotism that puts country ahead of self; a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. The dedication of a lifetime — these are words that are easy to utter, but this is a mighty assignment. For it is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.

I'm proud to be an American, but I'm sick of being told that patriotism is more physical and emotional than it is intellectual. We're a country that needs to seriously reevaluate its priorities. Like many things American, we're far too concerned with our "frenzied outbursts of emotion," and not near concerned enough with the proper education of those who will inherit the country once we are all gone.

The highest form of respect one can pay to his country is the knowledge of its history and the attempted preservation of its ideals. Knowledge, that is the ultimate form of Patriotism. Not hiding the parts of America's past that we aren't proud of, but exemplifying them. As Edmund Burke once said, "those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it."