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I hope you’ll read this. It’s something that’s been inside me since my military service and I finally put it in writing. Probably the wrong venue, but… I’d like to encourage every American to stop, take a step back from their politics, and ask themselves an important question: 1/25

What does patriotism mean and what should it mean to our country? Red, Blue, Independent or otherwise… I’m not pushing buttons here. Think about it. Now overlay that with who we are as a nation today. It’s hard not to see that we have a problem. 2/25

Patriotism has lost its weight and its meaning where it matters most. It’s been coming for decades, but we are where we are. And the current administration is the most obvious & egregious example of my point. As an idea, the administration wields patriotism as a sword of righteousness, 3/25

used to both energize and demonize. They produce sound bites to galvanize and grow their following but do little that jibes with or works to deliver on those promises – sometimes working openly counter to those pledges. They feed us politically expedient, ever-shifting reasoning, 4/25

justifying their actions – or inaction – with foundationless claims, junk science, and media tactics designed to keep us distracted. America First. No New Wars. Make America Healthy Again. Lower Prices. Healthcare (concept of a plan). No Cuts to Medicare or Medicaid. Reduce the National Debt… 5/25

They claim half the population hates America simply because they disagree. They call concerned citizens terrorists for protesting, speaking out or defending one another. They engineer forces that bring anonymous intimidation to our streets leading to violence, deepening division, & even death. 6/25

They use slurs in true propagandist fashion to strip away the humanity of entire groups of people based on the actions of a few. Patriotism at the leadership level should be defined by actions not rhetoric. By uniting the people not dividing them. 7/25

the knowledge that when the individual is raised up, we as a people rise… the belief that all Americans are subject to the same system of standards and expectations; no citizen elevated above any other in that system’s eyes… 9/25

and the idea that self-determination and a truly representative government, answering to We, the People are paramount to freedom. Based solely on the actions of the Trump Administration and MAGA believers, the current iteration of the GOP has a strange and skewed understanding 10/25

of what country-before-self looks like in practice. Their vision of patriotic leadership seems to be predicated on citizens putting their trust and unquestioning loyalty in a tight, monied circle of billionaires. 11/25