Quote:
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Originally Posted by ARTelevision
If the other candidate wins, I will be supportive of a Kerry Presidency, because he will be the Commander in Chief and the duly elected leader of our country. My allegiance and my patriotism is far stronger than my partisanship.
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I'm embarrassed to respond to this because it would be evidence that I actually do lurk here, occasionally, but I must ask if you subscribe to the philosophy of "my country, right or wrong..." Correct me if I'm mistaken but I had always thought that the USA was a country built on public disagreement, something embraced by the first amendment.
I think a lot of disagreements about what constitutes patriotism comes from different ideas on what patriotism is. You can think of patriotism as your obedience to your country (an idea that I would have thought would be repugnant to US citizens but what do I know) or you can think of it as your love for your country. This follows closely with the idea of the role of the President. You can think of him as the leader of the country or you can think of him as its representative. Again and of course, this leads to a difference of opinion of what it means to be a patiot and, thus, the political divide in the USA.
To some, they care enough about their country to publically voice their grievances, even if they are in the minority (something harder to do than most people appreciate, I think) and this love for their country is, to them, patriotism and not necessarily partisanship (to bring this discussion back to a response to ARTelevision).
Again, it's simply a difference of opinion and I fear that people really don't see this. I can't stand the mindless conflicts that happen in this forum, which is why none of you have seen me in a long time, here, and you're likely never to hear from me, again. Please come talk to me about anything other than politics on any of the other wonderful forums here, on TFP...