Unpatriotic
This topic arose in discussion just now, and I'm intrigued.
One commenter suggested that "many conservatives ... seem to have lost their patriotism lately."
This struck me as unlikely -- though it begs careful definition. For example, if you point to a person in that category, it is circular to say "well, since he's unpatriotic he's obviously not a real conservative" and this would not be fair to the original commenter.
It also raises an issue of what patriotism means in this context. I expect that there is a broad spectrum of pertinent behaviors, and at one end these are obviously patriotic, and at the other end they are obviously not. Two examples sprang to mind: in the first instance, a volunteer soldier giving up his life for his country, and at the other end, let's say, an American who has left and trains with al Qaeda and provides propaganda tapes rooting for the downfall of America.
I realize that some Americans would attack the soldier as not really patriotic, and defend the American al Qaeda as "speaking for disenfranchised millions." [1]
Let's grant the point that unpatriotic behavior is possible; I'd certainly agree that it is. So the suggestion has been made that "many conservatives" are doing this, and that's surprising to me. I would suggest that disagreeing with President Obama's policies doesn't fit this definition, but name calling would be closer. Calling him names like "McHitler" or "Chimp" or "Shrub" or ... ah, wait, wrong president. Well, if those things are unpatriotic -- and at minimum they are poor practice -- then I would have to rank equally such name calling by conservatives.
But perhaps that behavior, poor as it is, is not what was meant here by unpatriotic -- if you think it is, I'm presuming that you're also asserting that it has been for the past eight years, or at any time by anyone engaging in name-calling of the sitting President. Disparagement of the country itself would be a cleaner fit into the category, certainly. But in any event, I'm interested in examples, as it seems statistically less likely for conservatives by dint of the nature of the philosophy.
===|==============/ Level Head
[1] Footnote removed; it may be a separate topic but was likely to be a distraction here.
One commenter suggested that "many conservatives ... seem to have lost their patriotism lately."
This struck me as unlikely -- though it begs careful definition. For example, if you point to a person in that category, it is circular to say "well, since he's unpatriotic he's obviously not a real conservative" and this would not be fair to the original commenter.
It also raises an issue of what patriotism means in this context. I expect that there is a broad spectrum of pertinent behaviors, and at one end these are obviously patriotic, and at the other end they are obviously not. Two examples sprang to mind: in the first instance, a volunteer soldier giving up his life for his country, and at the other end, let's say, an American who has left and trains with al Qaeda and provides propaganda tapes rooting for the downfall of America.
I realize that some Americans would attack the soldier as not really patriotic, and defend the American al Qaeda as "speaking for disenfranchised millions." [1]
Let's grant the point that unpatriotic behavior is possible; I'd certainly agree that it is. So the suggestion has been made that "many conservatives" are doing this, and that's surprising to me. I would suggest that disagreeing with President Obama's policies doesn't fit this definition, but name calling would be closer. Calling him names like "McHitler" or "Chimp" or "Shrub" or ... ah, wait, wrong president. Well, if those things are unpatriotic -- and at minimum they are poor practice -- then I would have to rank equally such name calling by conservatives.
But perhaps that behavior, poor as it is, is not what was meant here by unpatriotic -- if you think it is, I'm presuming that you're also asserting that it has been for the past eight years, or at any time by anyone engaging in name-calling of the sitting President. Disparagement of the country itself would be a cleaner fit into the category, certainly. But in any event, I'm interested in examples, as it seems statistically less likely for conservatives by dint of the nature of the philosophy.
===|==============/ Level Head
[1] Footnote removed; it may be a separate topic but was likely to be a distraction here.