In this day and age one party in our political system is considered to be the ardent supporters of American ideals. A party where true patriotism and love of our country is not only embraced but protected. Now we all know that I am talking about the Republican Party. It is assumed because of Republican’s dedication to conservative ideals and large defense budgets that they are the “true” Americans of the political spectrum. This can be seen everywhere in politics today, for instance Rick Perry, the new republican presidential hopeful, when asked if he thought the President loved America replied by telling the media to go ask the president himself. The message implied that of course Rick Perry, a conservative, loves America but our liberal (some may say pragmatic) President’s feelings on the country aren’t so clear. This assumption of republican patriotism is pressed even more by the newfound far right of the party. The tea party which was born during President Obama’s time in office like to refer to themselves as Tea party patriots, meaning they are the defenders of America. This is in combination with the tea parties use of the word socialism when referring to any liberal/left leaning/progressive idea, to conjure up the image of communism (something that Americans have been taught to hate since the 1950s). It is fairly easy to see that the GOP is portrayed as the patriotic party while the DNC is painted to be rebel socialists looking to deform American ideals. But I would like to contest this assumption and say that (at least this current surge in conservatism) is unpatriotic and maybe even un-American.
It is important to define what exactly I mean by “patriotism” and “America” before this argument takes form. The definition of patriotism as provided by dictionary.com is “devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty.” Meaning the act of wanting to support and protect the country or nation one lives in. Secondly it is important to have a concise definition of what America is. The full and proper name for America is The United States of America and the best way to define this term would be to look all the words composing it. Yet again provided by dictionary.com, united is defined as “made into or caused to act as a single entity” meaning that a group of persons or organizations are brought together to act as one cohesive front. The word state is defined as “the condition of matter with respect to structure, form, constitution, phase, or the like. made, maintained, or chartered by or under the authority of one of the commonwealths that make up a federal union.” What this definition means is that a state is a group of people living in and participating in a structure or rules of a constitution. Lastly the term America is in reference to the continent that these United States are located on. So if we take all of the separate definitions of these words and put them together we will have a running definition of what The United States of America is. America is the bringing together of 50 groups of people governed and structured by individual constitutions and an encompassing constitution which acts for the welfare of its constituents. The important thing to take away from this definition is that America isn’t defined as the people living between the Atlantic and the Pacific, but as the structure which binds and supports the people who ultimately control it.
Another definition that is important to look at is what these new extreme conservatives (tea partiers) truly believe in. The grand theme in the bills, speeches and writings of tea partiers is that the government not only fails at doing anything properly but that also it is far too large. So the goal of this group of individuals is to shrink government down as small as possible. An important figure in the far right/tea party movement, Gorver Norquist, has been quoted as saying “I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” Showing his complete desire to destroy the United States government and the structure this country is based on. Now some conservatives might say that he is a fringe idealist and that his ideas don’t convey the feelings of all conservatives. If that statement is true then why did 240 house representatives, 34 senators and many Republican presidential candidates sign Gorver Norquists no tax pledge? Here is another example from a much more popular leader of conservative ideals. Ronald Reagan, seen as one of the greatest presidents of all time by conservatives, said “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” This shows that the idea that government does nothing but cause trouble and hurt the American people is not a fringe belief but a common held belief among conservative Americans.
Now that we have a definition of was the United States of America is and understand the very core idea of conservatism of the past 30 years, it is easy to see how unpatriotic conservatives are. If leaders in the conservative movement either claim government is the problem or want to drown it in a bathtub and the definition of The United States of America is the structure/constitution (government) that unites the people living in the country, how are these people patriotic? Wanting to weaken, shrink, destroy American government both on a state and a national level doesn’t seem to fit the definition of patriotic. These individuals are looking to strangle the government by cutting all funding, cut the social safety net, cut funding to education, dismantle any regulation protecting consumers, the environment, civilian health while proclaiming that they are the “true patriots” of the political spectrum. The labeling of government as the problem and the hell-bent quest of tea partiers in congress and state legislature to tear any form of government down is not only un-patriotic but un-American. This isn’t to say that conservative ideals of making sure taxes aren’t too high, or regulations don’t become overbearing are un-American; in fact this ideas are very important and needed to be represented in government to ensure a balanced approach to governing. What is un-American is the unbending belief that government is the problem and that it couldn’t possibly do anything beneficial for the American people, leading to a desire to tear it all down.
The asymmetry of loving America patriotically yet looking to dismantle it must be emphasized in the days ahead. Democrats and liberals who fight to strengthen governmental programs and ensure equality to all Americans have let conservatives claim superior love of America for too long. It is time for progressives who look to protect and support (the definition of patriotism) the government of The United States of America to show the American people that they are to true patriots of our country.
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