I Dislike Dumb, Flag-Waving "American Patriots," But I Love The United States. And Yes, People Can Hold Both Opinions Simultaneously.

It continues to astound me how many otherwise intelligent people go completely off-their-heads with anger when it is suggested to them that simply picking up an American flag, waving it in the air, and screaming incessantly "U.S.A.!  U.S.Aaaaaaaaa!" is a bit embarrassing and certainly not pragmatic in this current era.  But many people do go off their heads when this is suggested, so what follows is my response to them, or rather to at least one of them, whose name has been changed to "Patriot!" for the purposes of this posting.  (Because these so-called "patriots" tend to hate, say, Europeans for hyperbole-laden and not concrete reasons, I thought I'd start this post by mentioning a favorite target of theirs:  France.)

IF YOU REALLY LOVED YOUR COUNTRY, YOU'D STOP EMBARRASSING YOURSELF

I sometimes like to picture "Patriot!" being dropped in the middle of, say, Paris or Lyon, or just about any city in France, and left to his own devices.

It's my belief that within minutes, his cultural myopia would be on full display, as he attempted to negotiate what he would most likely consider "60 million gay pinko moonbats," or whatever, while trying desperately to find some type of "weaponry, any weaponry" so that he could feel "patriotic, dammit!"

Our pal "Patriot!" is so insular that his bluster is really just a way of displaying his personal neurotic tics and not really indicative of someone who is willing to reply seriously to any points anyone else feels free to suggest. (When his conservative internet overlords point him in a particular, talking-points heavy direction each day, I'm sure he breathes much more easily, and his blood pressure most likely drops back into the human range.)

Doubtless I'll be made fun of by "Patriot!" for being an "elitist moonbat" who "hates America," or whatever, for having written this, but let's remember this: it's not like his attention-span even made it to this paragraph, because he tends to craft his simplistic responses after he's about three words into anyone else's posts. He's got the political version of attention-deficit disorder....

As this is the case, I guess I'm free to switch gears somewhat.  So, regarding President Obama's recent news conference, I'm just glad we've got a leader who thinks and speaks in complete sentences. He'll stumble from time to time, and I don't agree with everything he suggests, but I do like his steady nature, his intellect, and the fact that he takes the long-view into account so consistently while serving in what one might tend to view as a short-view dominated occupation.

Despite what the "Patriots!" of the world will surely continue to suggest, I and others like me do think that the U.S. (and other Western nations) should continue to display strong leadership in this world in a number of ways (some liberal and some conservative). But we need to do so by ratcheting-down the dumb, "U.S.A.!, U.S.Aaaaaaa!"-screaming flag-waving, and replacing that outdated mindset with a ratcheting-up of careful international study and accompanying strategizing.

After all, dumb flag-waving puts on display the suggestion that you agree with just about everything we do, whether you consider it good or bad. Careful strategizing, on the other hand, suggests that you wish to continue what is working, but end what is not working in order to better yourself and your country.

Hence, the former mindset suggests a "carry-on no matter what" approach, whereas the latter suggests studying the reality of this international world carefully before deciding where to carry on as we have up to now, and where to make needed adjustments to better position ourselves for the future.

Since many of us continue to insist on using this particular term, which of the above two options, I ask you, is truly more patriotic?