Last semester a friend of mine studied biology of some kind in the Galapagos Islands. She is a secular humanist who has very strong emotional feelings about evolution. This is what she wrote in her Liverjournal right before she returned to the States. It saddens me that she feels like she has to spend so much time hedging against actual support for the President or the war. It also saddens me that usually anyone who demonstrates patriotism is labeled a jingoistic redneck who blindly follows the President.
This whole "don't question my patriotism" thing started back when the Democrats found they couldn't oppose the President without opposing things that were actually good for the country. It was also used by John Kerry during the campaign as a defense mechanism. Whenever Bush would call him on a vote or statement he made regarding national defense or whenever the Swift Boat Vets turned up the heat, Kerry would respond "How can they question my patriotism? I served in Vietnam!"
Patriotism means that you love your country instead of considering it the root of all evil. It means that partisanship stops at the borders. And yes it also means you hold your leaders to a higher standard.
Check out Dean Esmay's How To Tell If You're An Unpatriotic Butt-Head. Pay special attention to number 9. And before you accuse anybody of "wrapping themselves in the flag" remember that they have just as much right to call you a butt-head.
