Home of the Brave

And the not so very free, unless you defend it

For all of my life, patriotism has been defined by our society as those who serve in the military to defend our country from external enemies. Yet many times in many wars, what we were fighting for was not the defense of our nation. Indeed, those wars didn’t seem particularly necessary. I’m thinking of the Vietnam War in particular, but there are many other often “undeclared” wars.  Most of these were fought for purely economic reasons, like the war in Iraq. The 1935 book by Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler War is a Racket made this point most clear to me Butler, one of the most highly decorated officers of the 20th Century, was a retired United States Marine Corps major general and two-time Medal of Honor recipient when he wrote the book. Based on his career, military experience, and honors, you wouldn’t think he’d be a critic or whistleblower, but Butler exposed the ways business interests commercially profit from warfare.   

      He had been appointed commanding officer of the Gendarmerie during the 1915–1934 United States occupation of Haiti. Most don’t even know this part of our history, along with our occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War.

War as Butler says, “is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes”.

As such, the symbols of patriotism, such as the U.S. flag, monuments to the fallen, and military parades for Veterans Day or other occasions, often end up having dual meanings, which leads one to ask: “What exactly does patriotism mean?” 

At the same time as Butler’s book was being published,  fascism was on the rise in this country, as well as overseas, leading to the saying, “When fascism comes to America, it’ll come draped in the flag and bearing the cross.” Those words can now be seen as prophetic and not cautionary. For what we are now witnessing is that very prophecy acted out by the Orange Felon, his immigration Gestapo, his disrespect for the rule of law, and the very democracy that he is sworn to uphold.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but when he was sworn into office the second time, I could swear his hand never touched the Bible, and did he really mumble “I swear to protect the nation against all enemies, both foreign and domestic”? If he did, he has already broken that oath in so many ways, and that alone is an impeachable cause. If only we had a Congress that would prosecute and convict him, this time for certain.

However, what I do find truly patriotic these days is the number of average citizens who have taken to the streets with the “No Kings” and “Stop ICE” protests. What I do find courageous are those who show up at ICE raids to protect the innocent and those few news commentators actually calling out the Orange Felon administration’s actions for what it is: FASCISM. What I find as patriotic are those federal judges who have decided to uphold habeas corpus, issuing injunctions on the indiscriminate kidnapping of people who are being racially profiled by masked, badge-less, unidentified armed mercenaries, who are unpatriotic, traitors to our republic and our democracy.

These are the times in which true patriotism will step forward, and the cowards in Congress will procrastinate. This is the time that defines true leadership by actions, not just by empty words or slogans.

Yes, it does take courage to stand up against the Orange Felon’s fascists, as we have seen, there are consequences. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, the writer of the Declaration of Independence, “We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty on a feather bed.” Nor are we now to be protected from this tyranny on our video screens. This nation is truly in distress, which is why I have hung the U.S. flag upside down in my window and ordered a gross of distress flags for all to wave in solidarity and resistance to the Orange Felon’s regime.

We cannot, at this point, allow the bullies, the fascists, and the traitors to own the symbols of our freedom and liberties.

Resistance now is the most patriotic action that all of us can perform. The domestic enemy has arrived. Stand up and be counted! It’s time to rip the flag off this tyrant and beat him with his own cross.