False Patriots

I was at one of Alaska's fine military bases today, in line to get some paperwork done, when one of the MPs felt compelled to tell a woman standing in line in front of me that he "took exception to" her window sticker. She looked non-plussed for a moment, and then, trying to salvage an uncomfortable moment, brightly said "yeah, but that's what great about this country - we can all say what we believe." To which the MP groused, "yeah, well this freedom of speech thing goes too far, in my opinion."

I was sure this window sticker had to say something offensive about the military, but I was wrong. It simply said "W is for Warmonger." A pure political opinion - nothing about the military, just criticism of a politician. And this is free speech "going too far."

Then I ran into this column by William Saletan of Slate. It's worth reading the whole thing, but here's my money quote:

"In a democracy, the commander in chief works for you. ... Not every country works this way. In some countries, the commander in chief builds a propaganda apparatus that equates him with the military and the nation. If you object that he's making bad decisions and disserving the national interest, you're accused of weakening the nation, undermining its security, sabotaging the commander in chief, and serving a foreign power—the very charges Miller leveled tonight against Bush's critics.

Are you prepared to become one of those countries?"

Clearly Sgt. Hofstadter is not only prepared, but welcomes the opportunity to become one of those countries. I just hope a lot of people are more sensible, and know that patriotism is much greater than the cramped partisanship of fools like him.