Patriotism Blues
It may be six years after 9/11, but the surge of random, and most definitely misdirected patriotism is still evident.
I’m willing to accept that the “Got Ammo?” bumper sticker with Osama Bin Laden’s face just won’t come off, and that’s why they haven’t gotten around to removing it, but the cheap little American flag flapping from the Escalade?
That thing’s easier to remove than a fridge magnet, considering the number I saw lying in the parking lot over the last couple of years.
So why is it that, to this day, you can still find a couple of people flying flags that don’t really mean anything except that they’re lacking in common sense?
Do people think they need to prove to every random passerby that they love America?
Because I don’t care if they love it or not.
Sure, they may think it’s a great country, but at the same time they may not, and isn’t flying the flag a really good way to disguise yourself if you are a terrorist?
But before you start calling on McCarthy to rise from the grave and lock up my commie ass, let me set something straight, I love the U.S. I think we live in the greatest country in the world, and I wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else, but that doesn’t mean I appreciate the fear-mongering our government still subtly pushes of “Fly your flag or the Terroists Win!!!”
Pride is something inside of you, it’s an abstract noun; not a bumper sticker, a fridge magnet, or a polyester flag.
Yes, supporting your country is important, but supporting it by buying a $10 flag that was made in China for a nickel doesn’t make you a better American. There are some companies out there that actually become successful by marketing “American” products, but it was still just good business, not good pariotism.
They don’t care about what you use the flags for. Burning the flag is a protected form of free speech, so for all they care you could be building a red, white, and blue bonfire.
When did being an American citizen become a fad?
When did it happen that to live here your great-grandparents had to be born here?
I’m sick of all the false patriotism I see around me. If you care about the U.S., that’s perfectly all right, but could you please do it in a nice, calm, subtle manner? Having someone almost literary screaming at you that they love America is like having someone scream in your face. You tend to get pissed off and ignore them, even if you agree with whatever message they want to send.
That’s not an image we, as Americans, want to give out.