If a police officer wanted to increase ticket output, he could easily do it by issuing citations for omnipresent patriotic labeling. This past year alone has produced a plethora of factions and individuals wrapping themselves in the distinction.
Some who supported the resumption of hostilities in Iraq hammered peaceniks for being unpatriotic while the peaceniks cried the opposite. The quintessential example came when Sen. Hillary Clinton delivered a thumping oratory proclaiming the right to disagree as being patriotic.
More recently, the label has been slapped on Michael Newdow by those supporting his assault on G-d being mentioned anywhere in public. John Kerry and President Bush are trying their best to look more patriotic than another.
With so many declarations flying around, one has trouble seeing the trees through the fog. Maybe the best way to understand patriotism is looking at true patriotism in action.
The American Revolution produced a who's who in the American patriot pantheon. When one thinks of the Revolution, minds wander to Adams, Jefferson, Franklin and Washington. But one lurks in the shadows, and he's possibly the best example: John Dickinson.
Dickinson was the "cool faction," or opposition, leader. The powerful Pennsylvania statesman was an eloquent advocate of finding a peaceful resolution in the colonies' dispute with England. He wanted to petition the King and avoid what he considered an unwise approach. To do otherwise, he declared, was "to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper."
If the United Nations had been around back then, Dickinson might have been their most ardent proponent. Though he supported independence in principle, he wanted mediation, not mayhem.
However, Dickinson saw that independence was a foregone conclusion and did a curious thing: He absented himself from the final vote. Dickinson's void enabled the Congress to obtain a unanimous vote and the newly declared country to speak as one. Independence was declared.
But what Dickinson did next was remarkable. Even though Dickinson had fought against the declaration, he immediately turned his efforts to supporting it. Despite exhaustion and illness, Dickinson led the first troops from Philadelphia to defend New Jersey. Proponents like Adams were awe-struck.
Dickinson showed what true patriotism is: putting your country above yourself. He dropped whatever personal acrimony he had and went to fight, not because he believed in the decision but because he believed in the nation.
Dickinson's Pennsylvania compatriot and cool faction member Robert Morris put it best, saying the one who "declines the service of his country because its councils are not comfortable to his ideas makes a bad subject." John Kennedy gave his own version by asking us to serve the country over ourselves.
Supporting or disagreeing with reasons for war isn't patriotic, it's free speech. Castigating the decision after going to war isn't patriotism, its unadulterated egoism and borderline sedition. Speaking support for the war effort without sustaining actions is lip service.
The true patriots today are the soldiers who went to war and served, whether or not they agreed with the call, and those who sought personally to support them beyond mere words with actions and efforts.
One's measure of national service defines whether one is a patriot. That example was borne out by the Revolution's leading figures and most appropriately, John Dickinson.
Write to Jeff at mannedarena@yahoo.com
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