Patrioticpleasures

Celebrating independence on July Fourth is good, satisfying fun, even if we disagree about what patriotism means.

And disagree we do. The tension in the American spirit between freedom and brotherhood has been wound to the breaking point by politicians of both parties who say that only their policies can save our proud heritage.

Much is at stake. The recession and government debt have put the country at a financial tipping point, and the fireworks of the 2012 campaign seasons have already begun. How voters react will shape the future of national defense, Medicare, Social Security and more.

The debate is all over the place. We hear of those who love the country but despise its government, or love the country but distrust its businesses, or love the country but want someone else to pay for it, or love the country but want it radically changed. They all wave the flag.

If you haven't tuned in yet, here's a sample of the sharp words being tossed around.

Howard Rich, a real estate developer writing for Americans for Limited Government, said President Obama, acting like a "spoiled monarch, totalitarian fascist or petty Third World dictator ... has reacted to the public's rebuke of his socialist overreaching by actively seeking to subvert their will."

Author and social critic James Howard Kunstler, blogging about the use of the patriotic phrase "justice for all" by Republican Sarah Palin, wrote this: "For a nation of tattooed, hopelessly fat, angry people without jobs or incomes, filled with shame, this phrase resonates. How come no justice for us? Sarah Palin represents a dangerous force in American culture that is startlingly similar to the grandiose hyperpatriotic militarism that Hitler brought to Germany during his rise to power."

With such strong, contradictory rhetoric out there, it would be helpful to reconsider what it means to be patriotic. Most attempts to measure it fall short in everything but amusement value.

Men's Health Magazine ranks Tampa the nation's fifth-most patriotic city based on things like voter turnout, money spent on veterans per capita, percentage of residents who join civic activities and sales of fireworks and U.S. flags. Portland, Ore., came in first.

John McCain, while running for president in 2008, called western Pennsylvania "the most patriotic, most God-loving" part of the nation. It's easy to guess where the Arizona senator was campaigning when he said that.

Neither Pennsylvania nor Florida made the top 10 patriotic states ranked by Bundle.com, based on factors including military signups, voters and who spends the most on alcohol during the Fourth of July holiday. We can see how drinking more beer could make you a bigger patriot, but not how it could make you a better one.

We believe a true patriot has pride in freedom along with the courage to defend it. A patriot takes care of family and serves community and country. We believe the best patriots think independently and seldom wrap themselves in a flag.

Marilyn vos Savant, writing in Parade magazine, was on target when she described the essence of America as "finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom to and freedom from ."

There is no reliable checklist of patriotic behavior, such as refusing to buy a car with a foreign brand. Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander is proud that he just bought a Nissan Leaf, an electric car made in his home state of Tennessee.

"Plugging in my new Leaf will give me the patriotic pleasure of not sending money overseas to people who are trying to blow us up," he said.

As for military action, none of the major candidates has seen any. The New York Times points out that for the first time in generations, the president and his main rivals have never worn a military uniform. It concludes that "the familiar chords of patriotism may have given way to increased concerns about priorities at home."

Don't count on it. More likely, each candidate will try to outdo the others in delivering their own versions of patriotic pleasures.

Mark Twain also was right when he wrote that "the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism, is loyalty to the nation ALL the time, loyalty to the government when it deserves it."

If you inform yourself and think clearly for yourself, it's your duty to decide whose version of government you support. Do that, and no matter what you do with a flag, beer or fireworks, you're a patriot — but keep in mind that your neighbor who does the same and comes to a completely different conclusion is one as well.