The Republicans have managed to turn patriotism into mindless goose-stepping and the Democrats have let them. The roots of it are in the Vietnam police action that lasted 14 years. Johnson started it with a lie, Nixon continued it with more lies and it ended under Ford with a shrug. During that conflict any hope for rational discourse about the direction of foreign policy was beaten down by hard-hats, burned up by riots, and shot by the National Guard. And we haven't had more than moments of rational foreign policy since. Because when we talk about foreign policy we have to define who is a patriot (likes war) and who is not (wants peace). The chest-thumping, sneering, chicken hawks have had their way on every front and have driven the country into a ditch. Every time that has happened in the past, we elected Democrats to pull us out of the ditch, then turned on them when things were going well again. Patriots don't just love their country, they do something to make it better. Supporting a war based on 1,000 lies doesn't make our country better. Supporting torture as a policy doesn't make our country better. Running up a debt of nearly 10 trillion dollars also is not a smart idea. Every time the Republicans/Conservatives/Righ­t Wingers, call them what you want to and try not to cuss, are in charge they screw up royally. And their only defense is to thrash and screech that anyone who points out what a bunch of worse than useless shmucks they are is unpatriotic. Like they're the country and the rest of us don't count. And the Democrats/Liberals/Left Wingers are so busy trying to prove their patriotism they don't oppose the Republicans the way they should and avoid difficult tasks for the country to undertake. McCain tries to be a clone of Bush and now Obama is trying to do the same. We need a progressive government more than we have since the 1930s. Did we beat the real Axis of Evil and end the Depression under Republican leadership? Was going to the Moon a Conservative plan? Did the policy of containment that starved the Soviet Union to death come from a Right Wing administration? Was Social Security, one of the most successful government programs in any country in any age, the product of a Republican think tank? Instead of Right or Left or Conservative or Liberal, how about Smart or Stupid? You can judge which is which by the results. And if it needs spin, it's stupid. Grow up America and open your eyes! Our enemies have us down and are stomping on our head. Not all our enemies are foreign, and the most effective are domestic. And they do it to us over and over in the name of patriotism.

This post should be required reading for anyone who enters a voiting booth. Thanks!!

Interesting rant, however, generally I think you've bought too much into the idea of the Democrats being any better than the Republicans. Democrats have screwed the pooch too, big-time, there's plenty of blame enough to go around, more than enough for all. Both parties have been in control of both congress and white house long enough in the last two decades that they could have achieved whatever lofty goals they might have laid claim to, but they didn't, with both parties it was business as usual - corruption, greed, and the preservation/concentration of power.

You should be supporting a third party, not the Democrats.

@ Telemachus:

"The Republicans have managed to turn patriotism into mindless goose-stepping and the Democrats have let them. The roots of it are in the Vietnam police action that lasted 14 years."

I would push the roots of mindless patriotism back to 1947 September 18. On that day the Department of War was renamed the Department of Defense. That put us firmly on the Orwellian path by which our government came to refer to the Korean and Vietnam Wars as "police actions" essential to our "defense".

Now, it was a good idea to contain communist aggression. Putting a half million troops into Vietnam turned out to be a bad way to do it. But the height of absurdity in calling "war" "defense" came with the current Iraq War where a justification of "defense" was conjured up out of thin air and sold to the American people with brazen lies. (If Seymour Hersh is credible, then the Republican fall campaign surprise will be war with Iran, justified with new, improved lies.)

My point is that, when our government got into the peacetime Big Lie propaganda business on 1947 September 18, it set us on a path whereby mindless patriotism could be easily exploited by those, like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and, yes, McCain, with a penchant for militarism. This has been an extraordinarily dangerous development in American history and one which, as the Boiling Frog Syndrome, has gone largely unnoticed.

'Like they're the country and the rest of us don't count. And the Democrats/Liberals/Left Wingers are so busy trying to prove their patriotism they don't oppose the Republicans the way they should and avoid difficult tasks for the country to undertake.'

maybe you guys should have paid more attention to the big issues instead of fighting for abortion on demand and the right of sodomites to pretend they're married. that is what you cared about and your johnny come lately patriot posturing is laughable.

The Democrats are guilty of picking the wrong political tactics to defeat the Republicans.

Crazy, partisan rants against justifiable foreign wars (yes, Iraq under Saddam) do not help.

Instead, you should should demonstrate how Republicans betray egalitarian American ideals.

Republicans say that every American can succeed through hard work. But then they use their power to obstruct the progress and happiness of racial and sexual minorities they dislike - see Irving Chang, above. It's sheer hypocrisy to say that everyone can succeed if they work hard and then to tear down people based not on their work but on who they are.

'The Democrats are guilty of picking the wrong political tactics to defeat the Republicans.'

they come off as selfish provincials and have a tendency to overplay their hand.

'Crazy, partisan rants against justifiable foreign wars (yes, Iraq under Saddam) do not help.'

giving two bit communist propagandists seats of honor at their conventions doesn't help either.

'Instead, you should should demonstrate how Republicans betray egalitarian American ideals.'

or tell everyone that republicans will force old people and minorities to eat dog food. that's always a good one. they've used it since i remember.

'Republicans say that every American can succeed through hard work.'

democrats say that they can succeed through affirmative action.

'But then they use their power to obstruct the progress and happiness of racial and sexual minorities they dislike - see Irving Chang, above.'

is me calling sodomites who want to pretend to be married making them unhappy? poor little thangs!!! i'm all for letting the sodomites pretend that they are married. it does not affect me one way or the other.

'It's sheer hypocrisy to say that everyone can succeed if they work hard and then to tear down people based not on their work but on who they are.'

it's a combination of both retard.

Was Social Security, one of the most successful government programs in any country in any age, the product of a Republican think tank?

Anyone who can do basic math can figure out this statement is laughable. If you are depending on Social Security to take care of your retirement, you have failed at life.

GreenwichJ,

So "hard work" is not the answer, because everyone is racist? Great theory - I'm sure you're a fun person to hang out with. So what is the answer - just taking money from the rich racists and giving it to everyone else? ...And you wonder why the American left is described as socialists.

Americans claim that just by working hard, anyone can succeed in the US.

So the reason why slaves on plantations in the south didn't become CEOs of oil companies was purely because they didn't work hard enough. Emancipated blacks were poor because they were lazy, not because they were segregated.

The reason why all US presidents were white men is because white men are smarter and more hard working than everyone else. That's why they succeed.

The Democrats have a tendency to question this avalanche of embarassing bullshit, whereupon they get accused of wanting to punish the "hard working" rich and give welfare handouts to the lazy poor. Much like you guys, in fact.

The fact is, given your joke currency's current exchange rate against sterling, I probably earn more than you two put together. Is that because I'm harder-working? Maybe. But I don't begrudge paying taxes, just on the offchance that my wealth isn't purely a reflection of my own brilliance.

'But I don't begrudge paying taxes, just on the offchance that my wealth isn't purely a reflection of my own brilliance.'

that is a damn good idea because the government needs the money to control those drunken soccer hooligans and to install all those cameras to monitor you for your own safety.

If you don't begrudge paying taxes, you are an idiot or a liar - for no better reason then if your taxes were lower, you could contribute the extra to the charity of your choice and make sure the money gets used properly. But the real reason you don't mind paying higher taxes is that it means everyone has to pay higher taxes: you want to use government to force OTHER people to give their money, because, of course, they probably didn't earn it anyway. And it's pretty funny that you would assume that you make more than me or anyone else in an anonymous internet debate (but, to put your concerns to rest, if the exchange rate even enters your equation, I'm worth more.)

One thing I'll say for the American ideal (which I don't believe in). It does make you more charitable.

In Europe, rich people don't really give money to charity. That's because we're scared we only got rich because we got lucky and knew the right people. We instead leave it all to our kids.

Rich Americans believe they got rich because they were super clever and hard-working. That's why people like Bill Gates give billions to charity.

So that's one reason we have higher taxes. The European rich don't give their fortunes away willingly, but prefer to establish aristocratic dynasties. So they've got to be taxed.

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It only took two Goppers to switch this conversation from their numerous failings, to a patriotic/philanthropic slant. The tone of these posts went from "GOP is bad", to "America is great!"

Just like in real life.

And the ideals we have in place are bullshit - they are the smoke screen that allows corruption and prejudice to continue. Irv, the caricature, will likely hold in his heart dearest and sing the loudest about liberty this Independence weekend, looking forward to crushing "sodomites," not-hiring minorities to his company, and railing against those who don't pop a lung trying to out-sing him in juvenile fashion.

His song will be empty and shallow, as it will only be about his freedom, with no regard for thje freedom of others.

Irv, Freedom isn't just something you take for yourself, you also have to give it to others if you ever want to say we have a "free" country.

'Independence weekend, looking forward to crushing "sodomites," not-hiring minorities to his company, and railing against those who don't pop a lung trying to out-sing him in juvenile fashion.'

i can manage to get joy out of life despite the leftist ankle biting. the poor little sodmoites don't like me calling them sodomites and are miserable. boo hooo.