A scene from the publication Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. In this scene, Howard W. Campbell, Jr. has returned from WWII and is reconnected with a woman from his past. He learns that Armistice Day has been changed to Veteran’s Day and is upset at

“You hate America, don’t you?” she said.

“That would be as silly as loving it,” I said.  “It’s impossible for me to get emotional about it, because real estate doesn’t interest me.  It’s no doubt a great flaw in my personality, but I can’t think in terms of boundaries.  Those imaginary lines are as unreal to me as elves and pixies.  I can’t believe that they mark the end or the beginning of anything of real concern to a human soul.  Virtues and vices, pleasures and pains cross boundaries at will.”

This has been a quote I have been fond of for most of my life.  The author was a WWII Veteran that was captured by the Nazi’s and held prisoner in Dresden.  He was a POW during the bombing of Dresden.

Here are a few direct quotes from this man who fought for the freedoms of the United States:

“By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East?” he wrote. “Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.”

“I myself feel that our country, for whose Constitution I fought in a just war, might as well have been invaded by Martians and body snatchers. Sometimes I wish it had been. What has happened, though, is that it has been taken over by means of the sleaziest, low-comedy, Keystone Cops-style coup d’etat imaginable. And those now in charge of the federal government are upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka ‘Christians,’ and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities,or ‘PPs.’”

This American author praised men such as Eugene Debs and Trotsky.  (Both Socialists.)

The author in question is Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (or Kurt Vonnegut).  The initial quote is from Mother Night published in 1961.  The second and third quotes are from articles and interviews in more contemporary times.

What I think is telling is how this author from Indiana that fought in World War II makes comments that are seen today as seditious and “unpatriotic.”  Instead of singing the praises of men and women like Mr. Vonnegut, we have a large amount of “Patriotic” people singing the praises of Sarah Palin and Dick Armey.

In the meantime, a large portion of the bottom 80% of America are unemployed.  There is oil filling the Gulf and marine life is being killed at an unprecedented rate.  Local economies in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and many other states in the region have been obliterated.  North Korea continues to have its temper tantrums begging for attention.  Two wars are raging in the Middle East and an end does not seem to be on the horizon.  And health care for the bottom 80% of the United States is below the average of most Developed countries.

On top of this, Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle makes a comment that unemployed people are “spoiled” and “lazy.”  Likewise, Rand Paul made a more recent comment that people on unemployment should just take jobs that pay less than they desire.

Sharron Angle also made comments about how Conservatives should pick up arms if they do not win their elections, or get their desired results.

It is like the same rhetoric that is deployed about Health Care Reform.  Barack Obama campaigned on a platform for Health Care Reform.  President Obama won the election with 53% of the vote.  How does this mean that “majority of Americans are against Health Care Reform”?  Or do we just spin it, because there are a lot of Americans that are not happy with the Reform Bill because the President had to compromise with the party that did not win as many seats as the President’s party?

This is not Patriotism, it is Blind Nationalism.

It is just like the spin Sarah Palin puts in her comments.  This is a woman that has routinely mocked the President and other persons for being “Community Organizers.”  And now, she is using the same tactics the “community organizers” utilized.  Sarah, how many Facebook status updates and Tweets on Twitter did you do today?  Well, the one thing I will give the Tea Party Movement:  It is not a real grassroots movement.

When you have speakers making $100,000 to speak, and organizations like FreedomWorks organizing for you, nothing could be less “grassroots.”  But that is the agenda they are following.

Paul Mooney made a comment not long ago about how it was the youth of America that elected President Obama into office.  He pointed out that the younger generation are tired of all the bullshit of black/white, democrat/republican, rich/poor – and they want “Change.”  They organized and mobilized and sent a clear message to the world:  We don’t want the old system of elitist white males making all the decisions for everyone.  (Whether or not you agree that President Obama is really much of a Change is beside the point; the vote was for exactly that.)

Now the Conservatives and the Tea Party Movement and the Libertarians are utilizing these same methods.  Just like how the Tea Party Movement supporters decry the “socialist libs of the 1960s that want to destroy America” but turn around and use tactics developed by the protestors of the 1960s, they are using the same tactics of the movement that swept President Obama into office.  What amazes me is how they continually denounce the methods they are using.  And then, they claim to be “Patriotic” on top of all of that.

What could be more unpatriotic then inciting those that lose an election to “take up arms”?  Or claiming parts of the Constitution are “unconstitutional”?  What is more unpatriotic then verbally assaulting Congress members who are entering to vote on a bill a minority disagrees with?  Proposing tax systems that benefit the wealthy?

These are not methods used by the “Libs” that the New Right claim are UnAmerican, they are tactics used by dictators and totalitarian political movements in Africa, Latin America and South East Asia.

Honestly, I could care less about patriotism.  What I dislike is being fed lies or attempts of deceit.  By denouncing this “false patriotism,” which is really blind nationalism, I am not making any claims as to whom is really a “patriot.”  That is likely because I don’t care who is a patriot.  I do care who claims to be a patriot when the reality is that nothing could be farther from the truth.

One could state that Kurt Vonnegut was not a patriot.  But you cannot overlook the fact that he fought in the US Military during WWII and was captured in Europe and held prisoner in Dresden.  He contributed to the United States on many levels.  He was not advocating picking up arms when his side lost an election.

When asked in 2003 about how he was doing, Vonnegut responded: “I’m mad about being old and I’m mad about being American. Apart from that, OK.“