Patriotism Means To Stand With A Country Not A President

Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, or to stand by the government or the political parties. It means to stand by the nation — its ideals, its causes, its people — and see that her enemies are kept from power. Patriotism means to fight for a cause, even when the cause does not recommend itself, and even when the odds are against you.

As anyone who has read my column knows, I am not always very patriotic. I dislike politics, and I find it distasteful to rail against the people who, with their votes, keep me and my fellow citizens in office.

Politics can be exciting, though, and the government can sometimes seem to go too far. That has been the case in a lot of places.

However, as noted by the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., in a speech to the American Conservative Union in 1970, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Those who are not willing to stand and fight for freedom in this world are not worthy of it and it is a great pity that so many of them have lived in ease and security while so many others have died in the freedom fight."

Hatch said to Jeffries that that sentiment still holds.

"That sentiment, those words and that sentiment continues today," he said. "It's just that, particularly in the age of the internet and all the means of communication today, the amount of bad in the world today dwarfs any good that could possibly be expressed in today's environment. I would submit to you that my values and the way that I and my family live those values have, in that sense, changed a great deal since the 2016 election. And I think that's natural."

I agree with Hatch that values change. I disagree with his solution.

As far as I'm concerned, a complaint is a complaint. What's wrong with disagreeing?

Hatch added that Americans who lack political passion do so at their peril.

"Political passion makes us stronger," he said. "It makes us better. And it is the sort of passion that brings out the best of our country."

Hatch said he agrees with Jeffries that the "Democrats have taken the position that it's OK to put the party ahead of the country."

If we have learned anything about “patriotism” from Donald Trump, it is that he is unashamed of showing utter contempt for the standing of our country. As a sitting president, he proudly trashes not just our allies, but America’s most fervent “battlers.” Trump believes, like a modern Pontius Pilate, that those who die for our country will somehow gain favor in the afterlife.

But don’t worry. As the president has repeatedly reminded us, patriotism has nothing to do with morals, virtue, or goodness. It simply means loving a country enough to defend it with all your heart. And if that means defending a country that hates you, so be it.

Trump’s supporters like to say that patriotism means loving the country enough to ignore its flaws. That is wrong. To be patriotic is to always have the country’s best interests in mind. And the country’s best interests don’t always correspond with the people’s. If we truly care about democracy and freedom, it is our duty to resist hate, to condemn violence, and to oppose the notion that you have a right to murder someone else because of their color or their sexual orientation. Patriotism isn’t blind, it is a compass. The laws of God are not the laws of men, and it is always our duty to love and uphold our country in the face of enemy violence.

Patriotism is a far more robust idea than the manufactured image of Donald Trump has allowed. Like him or hate him, Trump represents a simple, yet radical, idea. That idea is that those who are worthy of living are worthy of dying. That idea is that the things that bind us together as a nation are more important than the things that divide us.

“America First,” with its militaristic, nativist tone, is as inherently controversial as the most sanctimonious radical. It is a vision that runs counter to a nation built on the ideals of liberty and equality. It is a vision that undermines our sense of national purpose, blinds us to our common ideals, and sets us against each other. It is a vision of man before all else.

Trump’s vision is a declaration of war on our country.

And this war is being fought on American soil.

If we are to win this battle, we must remember that Donald Trump is not a hero. He is a murderer. And if we choose to stand with him, we will all die.