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Patriots
posted at 7:20 PM  
A throwaway line in this post by Xeni Jardin of BoingBoing interested me. I've emphasized it below:
Self-portrait in a French press coffee pot ("freedom press," for patriots) by blogger and artist Kamala. The non-hilarity of the joke aside, this brings up a question.
You see, I always got the impression that the liberal stance was "I love my country, including the part that says I have the right to question our government." This line makes me think that the stance is now--or at least Jardin's stance is--"I am not loyal to my country whatsoever."
I'm not going to suggest that "If you don't like it, get out", but I do wonder whether someone who is so detached from his country should have any influence over that country's policies.
Of course, Jardin is a commentator, not a politician...but her words do reach many people.
Comments
Eh? There must be more to your assessment of Jardin as one who isn't loyal to her country than a joke about a coffee pot. Because if there's not, then I'm not tracking you...
The coffee pot is irrelevant; it's the "for patriots" line that does it. It's obvious that Jardin thinks changing "French" to "freedom" is silly (and it is), but rather than saying "for neocons" or "for righties" or whatever, she said "for patriots". This would imply that she is not a patriot.
...in other words, she's the one saying she's not loyal to her country, not me ;P
I think you're missing the sarcasm. Those who would change "French" to "freedom" would use the term "patriot" to describe themselves, but they wouldn't use it to describe someone who is ok eatting french fries.
I think it's a case of shifting language, too. "Patriot" is becoming a loaded term that implies baggage that many don't want to claim. It's much the way I feel about the word "Christian." Not every Christian carries picket signs in front of Planned Parenthood, listens to 88.3, and wears jewel-encrusted cross around his neck... but that's very much the image that many people think of when they hear the word "Christian."
In any case, I think there's more depth in her words than you're making room for.
To clarify: "Patriot" contains baggage that many don't want to claim AND that has nothing at all to do with being a real patriot.
But rather than try to reclaim the word, she's rejecting it. I don't know, that just makes me feel like she doesn't ascribe much importance to loving her country. I mean, it's not like there's some other word she can use, right?
And I didn't miss the sarcasm; that's where the "non-hilarity" part of my post came in. I bypassed it because I felt it was irrelevant to the larger issue: that she was rejecting patriotism as something that does not apply to her.
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