Damek.

From a comment in this diary entry on Daily Kos

It’s so bizarre to me how liberals have gone off on this extended “we don’t need patriotism” kick since the 1960s.

This country was a radical, liberal nation at its inception. The idea that a monarchy was unneeded, and that the people could govern themselves– that was an incredibly forward-looking and progressive idea. Functioning democracy is the gift we have given the world. We need to be proud of it. And we need to recognize that we are patriots.

A patriot fights to defend freedom. Holding citizens without charging them? That’s not patriotic. Lying to the nation to goad us into a petty, personal conquest? Not patriotic. Colluding with enemies like Iran for one’s personal poltical gain? Certainly not patriotic, and even traitorous.

As liberals we deserve to derive our power from our nation’s strong progressive history. Walk around Washington and look at those monuments: Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt. These were all men who were considered tremendously liberal by the standards of their age. Read some of what Lincoln– the only Unitarian President– says about the corporate power of his time and tell me that’s not a liberal guy. Every just war we’ve fought– the Revolution, the Civil War, and World War II– has been fought under the aegis of a liberal President. Progressive politics gains its energy from the Spirit of 76, and no sustained liberal movement has taken hold in this country without wrapping itself in the flag.

So it disturbs and angers me that even today, American liberals wallow in their Howard Zinn/Noam Chomsky-informed conception of American history. Don’t get me wrong, both are intelligent men that deserve to be read and listened to. But we can’t build upon their ideas, frankly. We cannot form a governing liberal majority as long as we claim that America is truly a wannabe hegemon just waiting for world domination, none of our national heroes are worth our praise, and the ideals of our guiding documents (like the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Reconstruction Amendments) are mild covers for greedy political corruption.

The best way for liberals to take back the flag is simply by physically doing it. Put a flag decal on your Toyota Prius (or your Volvo, as the case may be). Fly it proudly in front of your house, behind your John Kerry (hell, or even Ralph Nader) lawn sign. That flag is the symbol of your country, but it’s also the symbol of generations of Progressives who have fought, and struggled, and often died to make this country the nation that it is. Liberals have played an integral role in crafting America into a superpower, and it’s about time we stood up and acted proud about it.

I agree. I don’t hate America; I hate what Republicans have been pushing us and Democrats have been allowing us to become. But maybe I should just start wearing and displaying the flag. And to keep from being mistaken for just another blind Bush patriot, I can put it together with a Kerry button or something. Maybe just a note that says, like, “American liberal” or something.