"That’s why our culture is soaked in the idea of patriotism, which is piped into our consciousness from the first grade, where we begin every day by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance “…one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. I remember stumbling over that big word “indivisible” — with good reason, although I didn’t know the reason, being quite politically backward at the age of six. Only later did I begin to understand that our nation, from the start, has been divided by class, race, national origin, has been beset by fierce conflicts, yes, class conflicts, all through our history."
~ Howard Zinn, ZCommunications, September 29, 2000, and The Progressive, November 2000
Don't think that I need to keep saying that while I agree with Bill Maher on a number of things, I also disagree with him on a lot of things, as well.
Every now and then, however, he hits the nail right on the head. And in this brief video clip, he seems to have gotten it quite right.
It seems that in the United States, displaying your beliefs - religious and political in particular - and making a show of it is what passes for religiosity and patriotism. Why actually try and follow what Jesus said and commanded of his followers in the Bible, when you can simply cherry-pick some aspects of the Bible and elements of what have passed for Christian faith in the past, and never, ever challenge yourself to truly give up wealth, or try to help the poor, or treat your neighbor (and everyone else) as you yourself would want to be treated?
Similarly, the loudest displays of what seems to pass for patriotism tend to be regarded as "true" patriotism here. Already, many people view the United States as excessively patriotic. After all, I know of no other country where ordinary people put the national flag for display on their front porch or even obtain a flagpole to put up that flag in the front or backyard, or where the rule of thumb is that the national anthem is played before every major public event, including sports and sometimes concerts. Our children are pretty much obliged to pledge their allegiance to the flag at the beginning of every school day, and they learn these words well before they ever come to truly appreciate or even understand their meaning. And no other country pats itself on the back quite as often as we do for our "American exceptionalism" and greatness. We never seem to tire of hearing about how the United States is the "greatest country" or the "greatest nation in the world," or how we are the "leaders of the free world" or the "shining city on the hill" or the "last best hope for mankind" or "God's country." Historically, we also referred to ourselves as the "arsenal of democracy." Sometimes, Americans just chant, "USA, USA" or add "number one" just to reaffirm our sense of grandeur and entitlement. We set a holiday (June 14th, officially "Flag Day") just to honor our own flag. There may be one official national anthem, but there are other songs which seem to be alternatives to that anthem ("America the Beautiful," "I'm Proud To Be An American" for people who tend to be rightwing, and "This Land Is Your Land" for those who tend to lean more to the left). After every major address to the nation, each president, regardless of party affiliation, will end the address with some form of the words "God Bless the United States." Any of these things can be regarded as excessively patriotic, but taken together, it can be a bit much.
Yet, there are some people who want still more. For some, it's apparently not enough that all of those things which I just mentioned are already a reality. This is particularly true for people on the right, and especially for members of Cult 45. Not only do they have alarming hero worship for King Con Don, seemingly comfortable with him becoming an outright dictator (just for a day - yeah, right). But on top of it, they seem to want to hijack patriotism, so that only people who think and act like they do can truly be considered patriotism. So they put flags up everywhere, often including the back of their pickup trucks or other personal vehicles. They also seem to think it's patriotic to display other flags, including Trump flags (of course) and Confederate battle flags, which is something I still never quite got. How displaying the battle flag of a nation which historically broke away from the United States and fought a war against it is considered "patriotic" is beyond me.
But I digress....
Indeed, it feels like people on the right - generally Republicans - get away with a lot of paradoxes when it comes to patriotism. Again, displaying or waving the Confederate battle flag is a big one which to many people is most decidedly not patriotic in the least. And while, as Bill Maher suggests, conservatives went nuts in their criticism of Obama holding a coffee cup while saluting military personnel, there was a curious absence of any criticism when George W. Bush continued petting his dog during a patriotic display. Also, the criticism was conspicuous in it's absence when video seemed to verify that Trump did not appear to know the words to the national anthem.
Imagine if that had been the president that many conservatives believed to be, in reality, a "secret Muslim". We just would never have heard the end of it!
Yet, as Bill Maher points out, politicians who happen to have that magic (R) at the end of their name seem to always get away with it. Bush and Trump both got away with many things which Democratic politicians would never have gotten away from.
The question, then, is why? How is it that their status as Republicans allows their patriotism to go unquestioned and unchallenged, even when some of their actions and especailly their policies sure don't feel particularly patriotic.
Take a look at the video below:
New Rule: The Magic R | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
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