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ORIGINAL: DominantWoman65

I may take a rash of shit for this, but it is my own personal beliefs.

I too took the oath. I don't expect any thank you's or special recognition for making a choice in defending and protecting my nation and believing in the constitution, it was merely my contribution as a citizen.

My political affiliation does not define my patriarism nor does it define my character as an American. My patriotism is in the choices that I make on a daily basis whether it is volunteering at a soup kitchen or visiting a VA hospital or coaching a youth sport, I am giving of myself to assist in making a fellow countrymans life a little better.

The president is my Commander in Chief and I will respect that position regardless of whether I agree or disagree with decisions and policy that are being made. He was elected by the people for the people and any betterment of our country means putting political differences aside and stop the finger pointing and work together as Americans to build a better nation.

The United States of America is far from perfect but she is my country and I haven't given up my faith in her, I haven't given up on her people. As long as I wake up every day and ask myself what I can do to make some one elses road a little easier, even if for only a minute, then I am fulfilling my patriotic duty as a member of my community and my nation.

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ORIGINAL: kdsub

MrRodgers...We, meaning Americans, have made our country what it is today. I truly believe ...WE... meaning the citizens have made it what it is today. Not business... Not republicans and democrats... not some secret black helicopter elite.

What you or I don't like about our country is a result of our apathy or lack of will to change it. WE allow ourselves to be influenced by political propaganda by fixating on the inconsequential while the important issues are stalled or changed to benefit a few... It is our damn fault.

Yes, there certainly is manipulation of the gullible but again... it is our own damn fault.

The bright side of all this is the mechanism for righting the wrongs is still in tact and an election away. History has proven that you can only fool people for so long...even the gullible...and eventually wrongs are righted. But... sad but so... often thousands of lives must be sacrificed before the veil of deception is lifted.

If you stand back from your frustration, yes I know it is hard, you can already see these changes starting to take place. Take for instance the overall change in thinking on gay marriage and gays in general. This change despite the constant drum beat of intolerance from the right wing conservatives . People on this site are so quick to condemn Religion, Christians in particular, as racist yet they fail to understand the change is in Christians... the majority in this country.

We are finally realizing the mistakes we made in fighting a legitimate war and are in the process of disengaging from those mistakes… Again with thousands needlessly dead…and It’s our damn fault.

To be patriotic is a personal thing… to each generation it may have different roots… But don’t mistake patriotism with nationalism… they are different. To be a Patriot you must believe in the basic goodness of your country… You must be proud of the direction it is going and believe in the foundation of the system. You don’t have to be any of those things to be a nationalists.

Right now I am very patriotic about some things in our past…and our boys and girls defending me now… But there are many things my country has done over the last 50 years that I am not proud of…and IT’S MY OWN DAMN FAULT.

Butch

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ORIGINAL: kdsub

We in my context means the American people... and our boys are there to defend their families. I will always support them even if I don't , like you , believe that Iraq was necessary and believe we have been fighting in Afghanistan past our mission and need. I believe these are mistakes of a furious American public after 9/11 not a conspiracy... And the only problem was the man we elected to direct that fury.

As far as war mongers and the like this is our fault through our vote period. It makes no difference how we voted we are citizens of our country and MUST share the blame equally... And... continue to voice our opinions and petition for change...or shut the fuck up. Nothing bugs me worse than someone who does not vote but bitches about the condition of the country that gives them life.

Butch

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In view of the disastrous record of national socialism, it is not surprising that German thinkers in particular should be suspicious of patriotism as long as it has not been dissociated from nationalism. As early as 1959, political theorist Dolf Sternberger called for a new understanding of the concept of fatherland. “The fatherland is the ‘republic,’ which we create for ourselves. The fatherland is the constitution, to which we give life. The fatherland is the freedom which we truly enjoy only when we ourselves promote it, make use of it, and stand guard over it” (Sternberger 1990, 12). In 1979, on the 30th anniversary of the Federal Republic, he coined the term “constitutional patriotism” (Verfassungspatriotismus) to describe the loyalty to the patria understood in these terms (13–16). The term was later adopted by Jürgen Habermas in the context of a case for overcoming pre-political, i.e. national and cultural, loyalties in public life, and supplanting them with a new, postnational, purely political identity embodied in the laws and institutions of a free and democratic state. Habermas argues that this identity, expressed in and reinforced by constitutional patriotism, can provide a solid foundation for such a state, given the ethnic and cultural heterogeneity characteristic of most countries in western Europe. It can also facilitate further European integration, and provide an antidote to the “chauvinism of affluence” tempting these countries (Habermas 1990).

Constitutional patriotism is the most widely discussed, but not the sole variety of “new patriotism.” Another is “covenanted patriotism” advocated by John H. Schaar as appropriate for countries whose population is much too ethnically and culturally heterogeneous to allow for “natural patriotism.” Schaar's paradigmatic example is the United States, whose citizens “were bonded together not by blood or religion, not by tradition or territory, not by the walls and traditions of a city, but by a political idea … by a covenant, by dedication to a set of principles and by an exchange of promises to uphold and advance certain commitments” (Schaar 1981, 291). Still another variety is the “patriotism of liberty” propounded by Maurizio Viroli, who calls for a return to what patriotism used to be before it was harnessed in the service of the nation-state and submerged in nationalism: love of the laws and institutions of one's polity and the common liberty they make possible (Viroli 1995).

• A Conservative interpretation of the US Constitution
  
• Personal Responsibility
  
• Help for the truly needy
  
• Limited Government
  
• Consumption Tax (non-profit charities and food exempt)
  

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ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri

Very interesting read HERE.

According to the article, my belief of what patriotism is, is coined as "Constitutional Patriotism," or "Covenant Patriotism."

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In view of the disastrous record of national socialism, it is not surprising that German thinkers in particular should be suspicious of patriotism as long as it has not been dissociated from nationalism. As early as 1959, political theorist Dolf Sternberger called for a new understanding of the concept of fatherland. “The fatherland is the ‘republic,’ which we create for ourselves. The fatherland is the constitution, to which we give life. The fatherland is the freedom which we truly enjoy only when we ourselves promote it, make use of it, and stand guard over it” (Sternberger 1990, 12). In 1979, on the 30th anniversary of the Federal Republic, he coined the term “constitutional patriotism” (Verfassungspatriotismus) to describe the loyalty to the patria understood in these terms (13–16). The term was later adopted by Jürgen Habermas in the context of a case for overcoming pre-political, i.e. national and cultural, loyalties in public life, and supplanting them with a new, postnational, purely political identity embodied in the laws and institutions of a free and democratic state. Habermas argues that this identity, expressed in and reinforced by constitutional patriotism, can provide a solid foundation for such a state, given the ethnic and cultural heterogeneity characteristic of most countries in western Europe. It can also facilitate further European integration, and provide an antidote to the “chauvinism of affluence” tempting these countries (Habermas 1990).

Constitutional patriotism is the most widely discussed, but not the sole variety of “new patriotism.” Another is “covenanted patriotism” advocated by John H. Schaar as appropriate for countries whose population is much too ethnically and culturally heterogeneous to allow for “natural patriotism.” Schaar's paradigmatic example is the United States, whose citizens “were bonded together not by blood or religion, not by tradition or territory, not by the walls and traditions of a city, but by a political idea … by a covenant, by dedication to a set of principles and by an exchange of promises to uphold and advance certain commitments” (Schaar 1981, 291). Still another variety is the “patriotism of liberty” propounded by Maurizio Viroli, who calls for a return to what patriotism used to be before it was harnessed in the service of the nation-state and submerged in nationalism: love of the laws and institutions of one's polity and the common liberty they make possible (Viroli 1995).

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I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

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ORIGINAL: jlf1961

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I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

That first line is the kicker. By swearing to defend the constitution, is it then patriotic to follow the orders of a president who is clearly violating the constitution?

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ORIGINAL: chatterbox24

Patriotic to me is we stand as a United people no matter our differences in times of crisis and we put our bias aside during that time. Its humble, and not prideful. ITs not about being better or worse, richer or poorer, it is about standing together as a nation.

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ORIGINAL: MrRodgers
So I ask you, what does it mean to you to...be patriotic ? I cringe at the observation of society's almost patriotic quiche and begin to grow tired of the word and its almost inherent nationalism and now politically presumptive and prejudicial acceptation.