Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
Samuel Johnson
I don’t know how this works in other countries, but in the United States of America the word patriotic has two definitions. At least it used to. Now it seems to have developed a third.
I once heard a description of how Americans love their country from former US Senator and former Saturday Night Live writer Al Franken. I don’t remember the exact wording he used, but it came down to conservatives love their country the way a small child loves their parent. The country is always right and knows everything there is to know. A liberal loves their country the way an adult loves another adult. They see their flaws and accept them but also want to help them grow and learn and be better.
I fall into the liberal category. My country has always been a friggin’ mess. We have always made mistakes, many of them catastrophic. Despite that, I still love my country because I can see how good we can be. I see the positives along with the negatives. So am I patriotic? Not in the flag waving, We’re number one chanting way that conservatives are, but in a let’s fix our problems and be better than we are way. Yes, yes I am.
So what is our new, third definition of patriot in the USA? It comes from the maga cult, of course. It’s not a love or a respect for our country, it’s more like worship of an authority figure or a cult leader. The cult leader is above the law and free from repercussions for his actions. About half of the voting population sees their fuhrer figure as all knowing and all powerful and will agree with everything he says, no matter how idiotic or how un-american. Or how clearly nazi. Or how flat out evil. Half of our country is pro-fascist and it signals the end of everything we stand for. It’s just a matter of time at this point. It’s already over. Hitler didn’t need to win the second world war. He just had to be patient.
Our future looks a little like this, I think:
