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America is an Idea (and It's the Right That Hates It)
To them, love of country is about slapping a flag bumper sticker on your truck that says “these colors don’t run,” not working to make the country’s practice consistent with its promises.
They are the types who think patriotism is blasting Toby Keith lyrics about putting a “boot in your ass” because it’s the “American way,” and reciting the words to the pledge of allegiance before a sporting event. They care nothing for American ideals and care nothing about the Constitution, other than the part about guns. To them, America is like a football team, not a value system.
But what progressives understand and what those four congresswomen understand — the ones being attacked on the campaign trail with chants of “send them back” — is that true love of country demands criticism.
Those who love their nation fight for it to be what it claims to be, precisely because we believe it capable of the feat. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t bother.
Donald Trump is right: If we don’t like it, we can leave. The fact that we don’t — that we stay and struggle to attain our country — is the ultimate act of love.
It is love the likes of which Trump and his minions cannot understand because it goes beyond nationalistic bluster and mindless chants of “U.S.A., U.S.A,” and seeks to make real the blessings of liberty that are too often still unfulfilled.
It is the right that hates America and always has.
They are the ones who do not belong here and do not deserve the promises of democracy, because, at root, they have never believed in it.
They are the types who think patriotism is blasting Toby Keith lyrics about putting a “boot in your ass” because it’s the “American way,” and reciting the words to the pledge of allegiance before a sporting event. They care nothing for American ideals and care nothing about the Constitution, other than the part about guns. To them, America is like a football team, not a value system.
But what progressives understand and what those four congresswomen understand — the ones being attacked on the campaign trail with chants of “send them back” — is that true love of country demands criticism.
Those who love their nation fight for it to be what it claims to be, precisely because we believe it capable of the feat. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t bother.
Donald Trump is right: If we don’t like it, we can leave. The fact that we don’t — that we stay and struggle to attain our country — is the ultimate act of love.
It is love the likes of which Trump and his minions cannot understand because it goes beyond nationalistic bluster and mindless chants of “U.S.A., U.S.A,” and seeks to make real the blessings of liberty that are too often still unfulfilled.
It is the right that hates America and always has.
They are the ones who do not belong here and do not deserve the promises of democracy, because, at root, they have never believed in it.
[link:https://medium.com/@timjwise/america-is-an-idea-and-its-the-right-that-hates-it-681db6b6e819|
Tim Wise is right - that fact is people can leave, but they will not desert the country they love to leave it in the hands of these undemocratic monsters.
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