Are You a Patriot?

Patriot, we hear that word a great deal these days.  The terms patriot or patriotism are broadly used to justify an action, or as a declarative statement of self-identification, or as an accusation in its perceived absence.  By definition, a patriot is a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors.  In that limited scope, the participants on the January 6, 2021, attack on our nation’s capital could be patriots.  At least they thought of themselves that way.

So, what is the difference between a patriot and an insurrectionist?  The first American patriots were the Whigs, Continentals, and Revolutionaries who rejected British rule in 1776.  By British standards, they would have been insurrectionists.  The not-so-subtle difference today is that we must judge the participants who entered the capitol building, attacked the police, destroyed our national property, and attempted to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following a legitimate election, as lawbreakers who were attacking our country and not defending it.

Patriots

Not Patriots

Those who protested the outcome of the election and did not attack the police at the capitol building were nothing more than citizens exercising their right of free speech.  When they advanced beyond mere protest, they were violating the law and became insurrectionists.  In our democracy, we hold elections, count the votes, declare a winner, and the rightful person assumes the office.  Just because things didn’t go a certain way does not legitimize any action beyond peaceful protest.

To use a simple example, it would be like a child being told to let another sibling play with a toy.  If that child then breaks the toy so that nobody can play with it, he/she should be punished.  The January 6 insurrectionists didn’t get their way and thought violating the law was justified.  To them throwing a tantrum was the best way to get what they wanted.  This is juvenile behavior, not patriotism.

I didn't get my way

The guilty are those who broke through police lines and those who inspired their actions.  Neither class of individual is a patriot as they violated the law and attempted a violent overthrow of our government.  No matter how much certain Republicans say to the contrary, this was not a patriotic act but it was perhaps the most serious crime one can commit against a democracy.  The wholly unpatriotic actions of the defeated president Trump, and other spoiled brats within the Republican party, need to be called out for what they are.  Whatever term you want to apply here, the word patriot or patriotism would never work.

Members of Congress like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar, Mo Brooks, Madison Cawthorn, and Louie Gohmert were all shameful participants in the insurrection activities of January 6.  It was their fraudulent claims, that were proven false after an extensive investigation by their own party, that was the inspiration of those who listened to them and acted accordingly.  Free speech has limits and when you yell fire in a crowded theatre when you know there is no fire, and people are injured, you are guilty of a crime.  In the events of January 6, many were injured and people died as a result of their claims of “fire” when there was not even a flicker of truth in what they were saying.

Part of the Insurrection brain-trust

Claims of patriotism do not apply in this event.  Charges of insurrection and specific crimes against our country should be brought against the members of Congress who participated in the Big Lie fire that precipitated the events of January 6.  They are perhaps more guilty than those undereducated faux patriots who actually did what they had been told.  These individuals have defied the rule of law and have advanced the culture war in this country.

While we are on the subject of patriotism, the shameful diatribe of Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis that preceded the solemn anniversary memorial at the Capitol shows that he is not a patriot.  He may have served in the military but that doesn’t give him a free pass to openly lie and downplay this attack on our democracy.  His attempts to whitewash this watershed moment in our nation’s history, are contemptible.  While Trump decided to cancel his counterpunch to the memorial remembrance of January 6, Governor Ron DeSantis had no shame and tried to advance his political capital within the ranks of Republicans who continue to support the big lie.

There is a bold line between being a patriot and being an insurrectionist because you didn’t get your way.  I can almost feel sorry for the people who were conned into believing that what they were doing was right.  I must however temper that compassion with the fact that many were motivated by an underlying desire for white supremacy and their racist hatred for all persons of color.  It is that sinister deeply held belief that brought them to the world of Trump in the first place.  This is a different motivation from those on the other side of the Republican party, the educated conservatives who, through blind ambition for power, would use the gullible and prey on their racist beliefs.

Many of the insurrectionists of January 6 and the planners of the downfall of our democracy call themselves Christians.  Meet Bubba.  Now Bubba drives his Ford F150 pickup to church on Sunday if he is not too hungover.  He has his patriotic flags flying proudly.  One is Confederate stars and bars and another is a Trump in 2020 flag.  Bubba missed his Klan meeting last Tuesday because he was at the No-Tell Motel outside of town meeting Roxanne whose husband actually went to the meeting.  Bubba came home Thursday smelling of kerosene because he spilled some on his new jeans while filling his tiki torch at the Aryan Brotherhood fish fry and beer bash.  Bubba is a Christian, just ask him.  By Sunday evening he has broken nine of the ten commandments; he didn't kill anybody this week.  Bubba will also tell you he is a patriot.  Just look at that shiny Ford F-150 in the driveway.  The fact that 50% of the parts in his pickup are made overseas doesn't seem to bother him.  Yup, Bubba is a Christian patriot.

Bubba's Ford F-150
Half the parts are made in Mexico, Canada, and China

This morning I saw a snippet of CNN Fareed Zakaria's upcoming special, THE FIGHT TO SAVE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, where he delves into world history, and draws parallels between the conservative ultranationalism of Hitler’s Germany and Trump’s new America.  He rightly points out that Trump is no Hitler, but that many of the same lies were being told to advance a conservative agenda. 

Donald Trump’s effort to suspend the constitution to retain power on January 6, 2021, and all of the planning that went before it, bore more than a casual resemblance to Adolph Hitler’s Reichstag takeover in 1933.  While Hitler used a suspicious fire at the Reichstag to consolidate his power and suspend civil liberties, Trump tried to use mob power to disrupt the certification of the election that would mark the end of his reign.

Conservatives are willing to accept a popular racist as their party leader to subjugate liberal advances.  They are willing to allow individuals, blinded by nationalistic or religious fervor, to be preyed upon by anyone who can advance their cause even when they must use Hitler’s tactic of the big lie.  They stumble over themselves to kiss the ring of their new messiah even when they have to say things they know to be untrue.  Ted Cruz, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, and Marjorie Taylor Greene have no shame and are even willing to be called out when some moment-of-truth utterance leaks out and they have to run back to conservative media to do their “mea culpa's.”  Ted Cruz recently stumbled all over himself when he had to clarify his use of the word terrorist in relation to the perpetrators of January 6.

Donald Trump is not a patriot.  President bone-spurs used his wealth and connections to avoid serving his country when called.  He got a note from Dr. Larry Braunstein, a podiatrist in Queens who rented space from Trump’s father, and avoided military service. 

Real patriotism is to be applauded.  When you get that decided tingle when a patriotic song plays or you see our flag, that’s a good thing.  When you use patriotism to shield yourself from reality and to attack our democracy, you are not worthy of calling yourself a patriot.