The True Patriot: A Review

While channel-surfing the other day during a commercial break of I Love the New Millenium I found myself stopping at CSPAN. Yes, CSPAN; the government channel dryer than your mouth after trying to eat five saltines without water in a minute (ten bucks you can't do it). What caught my attention was an Asian man who was promoting a small red book called The True Patriot. He was extremely articulate and responded to questions in a confident and clear rhetoric that immediately established himself respectfully in the right in the face of criticism. I was not a surprised at all when I found out the man, Eric Liu, was a former speechwriter for Bill Clinton. I ended up watching the entirety of his hour long session and anxiously ordered his book for half price off Amazon.com.

The book ended up being more of a pamphlet; a 6’’ by 8’’, 130 page manifesto if you will outlining the requirements for a newfound sense of American patriotism based in public morality, sacrifice, and practical purpose. A notion not based around blind-faith and ideology but rather a willingness to use a pragmatic approach to problem solving. The author repeatedly used a quote from Senator Carl Schurz, “Our country—when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right.” He grounds his version of patriotism in consistently seeking to do what it best for the nation, not an unchanging belief that the nation is best. While I didn’t agree with the obvious partisan tone of the writing (he used the terms Democrat and Progressive interchangeably, two mindsets not synonymous in my opinion), he made pointed political arguments throughout the work that made a lot of sense to me. “The conservative’s blessing is that he is always rooted in the past. The conservative’s curse is that the future is unrelenting.” The True Patriot calls for a patriotism that uses ones love of country and respect for the past to lead us into a progressive and prosperous future. It is a message that I feel many Americans deserve to hear.

An underlying theme throughout the book is the right-wing’s strategic use of the notion of patriotism, and the left-wing’s regressive abandonment of the term. For too long Republicans have waved their flags, worn their pins, and demonized anyone who dares talk critically of the nation. For too long Democrats have allowed the right to steal patriotism, use it against them, and win votes by simply appearing more proud of America then their leftist counterparts. Such tactics have consistently worked, and will inevitably be used again in the upcoming presidential election. The True Patriot aims to motivate Democrats to stop conceding the power of patriotism to the right, and use its fundamental definition of desire to do what is best for America to ring loud and clear in progressive talking points.

Patriotism is not founded in a blind love of country, but rather a love of what this country stands for—freedom—and not unchecked freedom that allows an elite group to prosper while the majority suffers inequality of opportunity. Such is what has been occurring recently in this country, and the authors obviously wanted to make it a point to address the selfishness that has run rampant in the minds of those that have abandoned the common good for pursuit of self-interest. Perhaps the most powerful passage of the book plays on this idea of unchecked freedom:

“True patriots believe that freedom from responsibility is selfishness, freedom from sacrifice is cowardice, freedom from tolerance is prejudice, freedom from stewardship is exploitation, and freedom from compassion is cruelty.”

While The True Patriot is obviously written by a Democrat angry at the current direction his nation is heading, the message and motivation in the book has the ability to cross partisan lines. The writing is clearly articulated with the direction of an established speechwriter and will ring true to any American disappointed in the fake and insincere face patriotism has taken in modern American politics. Through the words of great leaders past, coupled with a progressive vision of the future, The True Patriot succeeds in sparking a much needed debate on the true meaning of patriotism in the spirit of Thomas Paine.