Obama, McCain, and Patriotism

"Love or devotion to one's country" is the definition of patriotism.

Patriotism has become an issue in this campaign. "I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign. And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine." said Senator Obama. McCain too, seemed to distance himself from efforts to question Obama's patriotism.

While they are not questioning each others patriotism, we better question it. It is the responsibility of each and every voter to ask if the people who seek to lead the United States of America really love the United States of America. To say that the question is automatically off the table is inauthentic, intellectually lazy, and very unwise in a time when global interests are increasingly bending our government to their will regardless of the will of the people.

Now as a young man, John McCain was shot down in combat and spent two years as a prisoner of our nation's enemies. Obama says that this alone makes McCain's patriotism beyond question. But does it really mean that? Benedict Arnold had far more impressive experience than John McCain had. Arnold had the military experience, what he did not have, was patriotism.

Young McCain was from a military family. There are many reasons to join the military besides patriotism. Like most of us, McCain has progressed into a different version of himself than he was in his twenties. Many of us know people who had great ardor for their country, their spouse, their religion, when young, but whose have lost their affection for those things over the course of a lifetime. In short, McCain's experiences then, while commendable, cannot insure us that he is a patriot now.

Since patriotism is love of country, the best measure of a patriot is a measure of their love to the things that define their own nation and its interests. In the United States that means adherence to a constitutional republican form of government with a series of checks and balances. It balances freedom with law. It is a product of western civilization.

With their commitment to opening the floodgates of immigration (with grossly inadequate checks to make sure the aliens know and trust the things which define the United States); with NAFTA and other trans-national treaties; with support for a federal welfare state; restrictions on free political speech in the name of "campaign finance reform"; and disdain for the Constitution's limits on the Federal government, neither McCain nor Obama could be considered to be patriots. They don't seem to love the things that make the USA distinct, nor do they concern themselves with preserving her as a sovereign nation.

One of the biggest issues in the upcoming election is one that will seldom be spoken of, because both major party candidates and the corporations which own the media all agree on it. The issue is whether the United States will continue to be a free and sovereign nation in which our own constitution is the supreme law of the land or whether we will continue with "trade agreements" and "economic integration"; with "public-private partnerships" between global corporations whose interests are not strictly tied to the well-being of the USA; or "immigration reform" which will take a population which is already far less literate on the intricacies of self-government than prior ones and dilute its capacity even more.

If we take the later course, we will lose this country and drift towards an EU style union with other countries. Our constitution will be subordinated to some international court or board's decisions.

I question the patriotism of both candidates because both espouse policies which will benefit global corporations but endanger the very existence of this country as a sovereign constitutional Republic. Until their policies change, I cannot in good conscience legitimize either of them with my vote.