Patriot Boy

A quick post before we go to TC. Saturday brought us 8 inches of wet snow. Richard got up Sunday morning to blow out the driveway, but the snow was so heavy that it snapped a pin on the snowblower.

The driveway is half done, and melting already at 9 AM. We are hanging out two loads of wash then going to buy snowblower parts.

I enjoy political satire. Lately one of my favorite sites is Patriot Boy. This is not a work-friendly site, not a family friendly site, but it is wicked funny and gives insight into the neo-conservative mind set. Saturday's post eloquently illustrated something that has been breaking my heart:

Proud to be frightened

I admit it. I'm a frightened little coward. There's nothing wrong with that. You can't truly be a patriotic American these days unless you're as frightened as a neocon in a room full of Army recruiters. It's the central organizing feature of conservative politics.

The NRA was built on cowardice. They've become one of this nation's most powerful lobbying groups by fighting such things as trigger locks, armor-piercing ammunition bans, and background checks on the basis that such measures would interfere with a person's ability to defend his or her home against criminals.

Think about that for a minute. How often do home invasions occur? You have to be one frightened puppy to buy into that kind of rhetoric. I am that frightened. That's why I have as many loaded guns lying around my house as I have gladiator movies on my shelves. It may not be rational, but by God, it's Second Amendment patriotic.....

......Five years ago, no respectable person would dare to even think that Americans should employ torture or eliminate due process. September Eleventh changed everything. It turned us into a nation of timid, frightened, but still manly, little bunnies. We have become so afraid of extremely rare acts terrorism, we are now eagerly disposing of our most cherished democratic values.

Yes, I'm frightened, but that's what makes me a better American than you.

Ever since 9/11, you hear the Star Spangled Banner a lot less and God Bless America a lot more. People always complained that the Star Spangled Banner was hard to sing. That's one of the things I always liked about it. Patriotism should not be a slam-dunk. The path of lest resistance is not always the most patriotic. You should have to wonder at the beginning of the song whether you will be able to hit the high notes, to wonder whether you can do our nation justice. Nowadays I really miss the "Land of the Free, Home of the Brave" line. How quick we were to start trading in our freedoms for promises of improved "security".