Think it was easier to recognize a patriot in the "olden days"?
Here are some patriots from the July 4th parade in 1912.
And here's a Youtube video from WW2 that beautifully defines patriotism.
But how do we pick out a patriot in 2010?
I put a Mark Steyn comment on Facebook the other day:
"It is hard to imagine Obama wandering along to watch a Memorial Day or Fourth of July parade until the job required him to. That's not to say he's un-American or anti-American, but merely that he's beyond all that. Way beyond...He's the first president to give off the pronounced whiff that he's condescending to the job — that it's really too small for him and he's just killing time until something more commensurate with his stature comes along."
The quote struck a chord with me because it verbalized something I hadn't been able to put into words. Mark Steyn would not be the first to notice the President's nose in the air. But regarding the patriotism, I DO wonder if President Obama ever attended a Fourth of July parade...before he was on the clock. And I wonder what he taught his little girls about patriotism.
Wasn't it President Obama who brought his patriotism into question himself? He chose not to cover his heart during the National Anthem.
Then at his last "presser", there were no flags behind him. It's as though he's trying to redefine patriotism. Is his way "cool"...or just "cold"?
The President has said a person is not an automatic patriot by just putting a flag pin in their lapel. Fair enough.
But if you add his actions to Michelle's quote about being proud of her country for the first time...and then take into consideration the home Barack Obama was raised in, the mentor
that he was given, the ACORN community organizers that he worked with, and the Chicago corruption...then the question is not "is he patriotic"? The question is "why wasn't he vetted"?A simple google of Frank Marshall Davis can make your hair stand up. He's the mentor chosen for the President by his mother's parents. READ of Mr. Davis' life choices and behavior.
If the crowd around Barack Obama (the Dunhams and Stanley Ann Dunham, Davis, Ayres, Wright, etc.) DID feel such anger and political alienation, then they aren't likely the parade crowd.
But then maybe I am selling the President short. I tried to think how it could be proven that Mike and I love OUR country. Is there a case for our patriotism? We've always flown a flag out front and we usually eat barbeque and watch fireworks on the Fourth. But patriotism is about doing more than those things.
We have a picture of George Washington hanging in the hall, but hanging a picture doesn't make you a patriot.
We vote and try to stay informed. Mike retired with twenty years of service in the Air Guard. Hmmm. This is hard. How do you express that feeling when you hear of a disaster across the globe and you know YOUR country will be there with humanitarian supplies? Or what about that flood that engulfs your heart when F16s do a flyover at a ballgame?
If I question what the President taught his girls about patriotism, I also have to ask myself if Beth and Brad left home with a sense of pride in their country. They both probably would complain that we dragged them through museums...and send more political emails than they need. And we did sign for Brad at age 17 to join the Air Guard. He was the third generation to do so.
Then I had a random thought of the neighborhood Fourth of July parade when the kids were little. Colony West organized an annual parade; now THERE'S community organizing. People went all out decorating their little red wagons, four wheelers, bikes, and trikes. Maybe that stimulated patriotic roots.
Can we agree that patriotism is a hard trait to nail down? But I do know who "got" the love of country...George Washington. He motivated men without food or shoes to fight at frozen Valley Forge. They fought because of his personal leadership and I can't believe they just didn't turn around on him and walk back home.
When I taught third grade at Little Rock Christian, we learned "three firsts" from our unit on President Washington. You probably remember them from third grade. He was first in war (Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army), first in peace (presiding over the Constitutional Convention), and first in the hearts of his countrymen. In his day, most homes hung a picture of him because he was so revered for the things he did for his country.
They say that President Washington could have been crowned king for the asking. But he knew monarchy was the past, not the future. He cared more about his country's future than his personal future.
God, bless the leaders who love their country more than self.
And forgive us in America, Lord...so you can bless America.
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Psalm 33.12
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