Because I’m actually patriotic.
Like, in a real way.
Unlike fake “patriots,” I don’t pretend America is perfect and that one should never be allowed to criticize it. I understand that there is a dark side to American history. But I love and appreciate all that is most exciting and creative and dynamic about America–the diversity of cultures and religious traditions and political ideas and cuisines which make their home here. I love jazz and hip-hop and salsa, and how those sounds weave their way in and out of the fabric of the nation. Pizza, burritos, falafels, pierogi–yes, please! I’m a big fan of our new Vice-President, the child of Jamaican and South Asian immigrants–and a big fan of my new Muslim county commissioner, Nafisa Fai, who’s got Somali refugee roots. Pre-pandemic, one of my favorite things in the world was a noisy Portland street full of guitar-playing buskers, anarchist protesters and crazy end-times cult members trying to convert me. America wouldn’t be America without them.
But the people who call themselves “patriots”–people like Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity–truth is, they don’t really like America. Not most of it, anyway. They hate cities. They don’t like immigrants, with a few (white-skinned) exceptions. They disdain large parts of American culture–all the music and movies and TV shows created by those coastal “libtards.” Lately, even sports has been in their crosshairs, seeing as so much of it is played by African-American athletes who will not remain conveniently silent about the racism they experience on a regular basis.
They love America only in the most narrow and most unimaginative way–as defined by one race, one religion, one culture, and controlled by one gender. And this from the people who love to talk about freedom….
The white man who drives a big truck, goes to church and listens to country is part of America, too. But the “patriot” movement wants him to become the definition of America. One shade of color instead of the entire rainbow.
But here is the true punchline of this joke…
The wealthy who lead and inspire this movement don’t even respect this middle American white male they mythologize. As far as they are concerned, he can remain poor, employed for a low wage, unable to obtain health care or a secure retirement. They don’t care if he’s able to keep the heat on when extreme weather comes through. They only care about him as long as he can be manipulated into voting for laws that allow them to retain as much of their wealth as possible.
So are they really patriotic? Do they like their fellow Americans?
I’ve got my doubts. And I will not be joining the Patriot Party anytime soon.
02/27/2021 at 7:11 pm
They’ll have to party without me.
02/28/2021 at 1:47 pm
For whatever passes for partying in that bunch….
02/28/2021 at 2:00 pm
Can you imagine? (Shudder)
03/01/2021 at 2:57 pm
Um…armed insurrection, I guess? Ugh.
03/02/2021 at 4:27 pm
More like armed indiscretion. I pity any woman who is forced to party with them. They are well-paid for their time, I am sure, but not enough to pay for getting the foul stench of decay off them.
03/03/2021 at 1:49 pm
Hmmmm…you think these guys have enough $$ to pay women to party with them? Am I interpreting that correctly? Certainly didn’t look like the guy with the horns at the Capitol was the type for making lucrative career decisions…but I could be wrong.
03/03/2021 at 3:02 pm
Not those guys, the wealthy politicians running the cultists. The Trumps and Jeffrey Epsteins of the world who think they are God’s gilts to horny 1%ears.
03/04/2021 at 11:21 am
Ah, so you mean the leadership…the guys who do have the $$, but none of the decency, intelligence or charm to actually attract women with. Got it. Different group of problem children.
03/02/2021 at 3:20 pm
Reblogged this on Now If You Want My Opinion … and commented:
EUROBRAT shares something that should become an epiphany for every American who cares about their future and the future for their loved ones —-
03/03/2021 at 1:49 pm
Thank you so much for reblogging 🙂
03/02/2021 at 4:34 pm
Wish I could say I am glad to be Canadian, but we have so many Trump cultists up here they could probably create their own Trump party. I actually wish they would, that would split the conservative vote, and they would never again hold power.
03/03/2021 at 1:47 pm
Really? I am surprised that many Canadians are into Trump…always thought of yours as a more sane nation.
There’s definitely a lot of division in the Republican Party here at the moment, and I’m savoring it. I’m used to bickering and fighting on the left…now the righties get to have that experience for a change!
03/03/2021 at 2:51 pm
The white supremacists are coming out of their closets up here. Seems they were shamed into pretending to .ike diversity, but Trumples gave them the freedom to show their hate, and they dove in head first. Then along came the Covid Hoax, and they cannot wait to scream for their right to die of a fake bug. Climate change? Dig up the coal! Greta Thunberg, cut out her tongue and lock her in a classroom where she can learn girls should be admired for their sexual parts and vilified for having a brain.
Time is running backward here. Maybe I can be a teenager again soon.
03/04/2021 at 11:22 am
Wow. So this is a trend which is happening all over the world, then. My native country of Poland is the same way. Sigh.
03/04/2021 at 1:02 pm
My mother was born in Poland, in an area that belonged to Germany at the time. in the late 80s, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, I managed to make my way to Poland. The town she was born in was nothing but a signpost on a road, probably obliterated during WWII. If there were any surviving relatives I found no trace. Kaidanneks, and Wurfels, those were her parent’s names. Her parents and family emigrated to Canada in 1922. Wow! 99 years ago this year!
03/16/2021 at 9:26 pm
Oh, interesting! And congrats on the immigration to Canada…probably a smart choice. Unfortunately, as I’m sure you’re very well aware, many communities in Poland were entirely destroyed during WWII, so who knows (Sorry about the delay in the response, it’s been a crazy couple weeks at work.)
03/17/2021 at 6:32 am
No problem, eb. Yeah, I’m glad my mother and her family came to Canada too. What I am not glad about, even though my very existence depended on it, was that she met my father and fell in love with him (though I don’t see how anyone could have loved such a horrible man!) If it had meant she got to live a quiet and long happy life here as she deserved, I would have given up my right to be born. He abused her, as he abused his children, controlled her life, and made her miserable. She could have found better than him in Poland. She died young, 49, of cancer, the doctors said. I know she died to escape her tormentor, she knew of no other way out.
Sorry to lay all this on you, but I wish my sperm donor were still alive so I could give him the same slow, torturous death he gave her. It was a long time ago, obviously, but I think I saw her smile, once. And only once…
03/17/2021 at 6:14 pm
Ugh, sorry to hear. And ya know, you gotta be able to get things off your chest once in a while.