Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
There is a lot of talk about Patriotism these days. The New Right has proliferated the internet with their “Patriotic” terminology. There is this trend towards Revolutionary Era nostalgia mixed with patriotic terminology that seems to obscure any true meaning.
Sarah Palin stepped on the scene and decided to resign as Governor and proceed with her speaking engagements and book writings. Many people cannot figure out why Palin has become such a national figure. She is quite symbolic. Sarah Palin puts a lot of words together and actually says very little. Sarah Palin said, “Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reason, and not just to mingle with the right people.“* What does that mean? It can really mean whatever you want it to mean. Everyone can attribute whatever preconceived notion that have to it.
The New Right is full of these comments, insinuations and rhetorical devices. I went to “Norcal Freedom Fighters.” In the “About Us” page, it states the following:
Core Values
- Dedicated to defending the principles of our Nation, as established by our forefathers for the advancement of the people of these United States of America, under God
- Ensure that the principles of the Constitution are preserved, communicated, understood and used as the basic premise for all Government in these United States of America (Local, State and Federal); creating an environment for fiduciary responsibility, the motivation of opportunities, individual choice, self-determination and generosity
- Support for political candidates that supports conservative ideals
Strategies
- Provide Constitutional education to empower and advance opportunities for all citizens
- Promote the greatness of this Country and not apologize for being the envy of the World
- Promote our principles and respecting others, not apologize or be subjugated to other doctrines of the world
If you “[p]rovide Constitutional education to empower and advance opportunities for all citizens,” does that include non-Christian citizens? What about the education that contradicts that the “principles of our Nation, as established by our forefathers” were not based on a Nation “under God“?
I could really spend the entire time dissection just this six point page. “Promote the greatness of this Country and not apologize for being the envy of the World.“ Envy of the world? That is a lot like that attitude that some women have where they truly think people dislike them simply because they are beautiful regardless of their behavior (or breath). At the very least, this is such a subjective statement, one can’t help by wonder exactly what it is supposed to mean to the general public. How Palin-esque.
I’m going to do something I have been doing too much lately and draw a direct quote from Wikipedia. My apologies in advance. I just want to make sure we are using the same terms. Far too many people throw around words with reckless abandon and then want to debate the semantics of it.
“In Marxist terminology, reactionary is a pejorative adjective denoting people whose ideas might appear to be pro-working class, but, in essence, contain elements of feudalism, capitalism, nationalism, fascism or other socio-political characteristics of the ruling class. Reactionary also denotes supporters of authoritarian, anti-communist and fascist régimes such as Vichy France,…”
