Comments on: CAMPAIGN 08 & EDITOR’S COMMENT: America’s patriotism problem

By: drake

drake — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:11:26 +0000

obama won so deal with it

By: carol Elkins

carol Elkins — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:06:20 +0000

I see in this morning’s news that instead of making a patriotism speech, Obama is putting it in the mix of his stump speech. Also polls show that voters are not concerned about his patriotism.

Reason for optimism, although those of us who are Woodward fans will not be able to sleep until he is the nominee. Then we’ll have to start worrying again!

By: MonsieurGonzo

MonsieurGonzo — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:53:30 +0000

Americans embrace the trinkets of ‘patriotism’ because they have been provided no other means of actively participating in The War = cause célèbre save as passive consumers. When they see leaders, public figures, etc., NOT participating in the trivial displays and rituals of nationalism, most Americans feel that they, themselves are being trivialized by ‘arrogant’ intellectuals, whom they almost always feel, anyway ~ look down on them.

Mr. Obama may be intellectually correct by refusing to conform to the infantilizing notions of nationalism, but by not calling for any meaningful, alternative action(s) that the population CAN embrace, he leaves a void ~ much as Mr. Bush did when he failed to give The People any rôle after 9/11 : other than ‘to enable and obey’ by faith beyond reason the idea of Unitary Executive.

For example, Mr. Obama could re-direct one of the trinkets, the Yellow RIbbon, and “ask all Americans who truly ‘Support The Troops’, rather than wear or display this emblem: to tie this Yellow Ribbon around the hoses of their petrol station pumps.”

By: Phil Sheehan

Phil Sheehan — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:35:47 +0000

A nice take on patriotism, Paul.

Klein is onto something, but as frequently happens, he’s only half-way onto it. The “it” is Patriotism as a Measure of the Man.

Of course there are people who will challenge Obama on it. The other half of that insight is this: Those overwhelmingly are people who will not be satisfied no matter what Obama says, or, if they are satisfied, still will not vote for him.

Identifying the True Patriot (or the Real Patriotism) is roughly akin to identifying the True Religion. The existence of diverse claimants persuades me that
a/ many of the claims are sincere and defensible, and
b/ none of them is founded on Absolute and Incontrovertible Truth.

One of my sons created a bumper sticker I still fancy. It’s a picture of jazz great Django Reinhardt, with the slogan, Less Jingo, More Django.

By: carol Elkins

carol Elkins — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:48:02 +0000

Just last night I was thinking about the same thing. He will have to make the same kind of speech about patriotism that he made about race. I expect that he will wait to do this until John McCain is his only opponent.
One by one he will have to address our dysfunctional myths. That is his story.
But, he is a master story-teller, for whom the issue of timing is paramount.

By: tommy tompkins

tommy tompkins — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:00:25 +0000

Hey Paul,
While I’m not convinced that Obama or anyone else is going to keep this country from a date with doom (to understate the matter), i certainly agree with your insights: “There’s little doubt that patriotism will at the very least figure as an insidious undercurrent in the general election.” Keep ‘em coming, WIC is a great resource…
TT