Real patriotism is holding government responsible | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean

too busy to post my own words so sharing some i found particularly inspiring...

Real patriotism is holding government responsible | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean:

...I'll let you in on an oddball gesture of mine. Each Sunday, at the end of ABC's This Week when the Pentagon-released names of recently fallen soldiers scrolls down, I stand up from where I've been sitting and, misty-eyed, salute the names. It's corny, I know, but the idea of 20- and 30-somethings dying far away in an unnecessary war touches me at the core, and I feel the least I can do is stand and honor in some way their sacrifice.

Let's examine the thinking of the roughly 30 percent of Americans — the so-called America-lovers — who still support the war. Theirs is a world view painted with broad brush strokes — their country is always right, good, moral; those who oppose us are all bad guys, sometimes with no distinction — "terrorists" "extremists" "insurgents" — all to be done away with; even when we err, it is always in good faith, never with ulterior motives. And if we want someone else's oil or want permanent bases, their astonishing attitude is "So what?" This world view doesn't allow the other guy, Iraqis in this case, to be entitled to the same nationalism, pride and fighting spirit that we claim for ourselves.

Frankly, I wish I could inhabit this island even temporarily, if only because it would be easier. To actually be acquainted with the messy realities of Iraq is to feel a range of emotions — anger, outrage, sorrow, shame.

I have a theory on why some people feel this way. Some of it is a combination of exceptionalism and arrogance, but some of it has to do with what is sometimes evident to outsiders — the dichotomy between the American people and their country's foreign policy — the former are some of the most straightforward people in the world, and the latter can sometimes be devious and hypocritical.

It is for this reason that some Americans are unable to believe that the genial Mr. Bush can be capable of a dishonest war, and that their leaders may not have been entirely honest with them. Hence the denial, delusion and tortured rationalization.

But as Barack Obama has reminded us, dissent is a higher form of patriotism.

If we lose that, the terrorists win. If that happens, they'll follow us here. Then, maybe hopefully, they'll drive out those America-haters and Third World liberals.

Saritha Prabhu of Clarksville is a Tennessean columnist. E-mail: sprabhu@charter.net.