In what may be the limpest battle cry to date (except, perhaps, for the title of this post), Jon Henke states that it is Republicans who are the perennial victims of having their patriotism questioned, and it is the lazy liberal media’s fault for not calling the Democrats on it:
One of the greatest Democratic tricks this past 8 years has been the Patriotism Dodge: their inexplicable ability to convince the press that their patriotism was being attacked at every turn. Sadly, the press rarely followed up the Democratic harumphing with a simple corrective: “However, nothing had been said about their patriotism.” Their feigned outrage after the Max Cleland ad was probably the first notable example of this misdirection tactic, but they used it routinely.
Even more impressive, if that is the word, has been the Democratic ability to play the martyred patriot even as they were explicitly questioning the patriotism of their opponents.
This is such an absurd assertion that I am not going to go back and list the hundreds of times that Republicans have smeared Democrats as unpatriotic and overtly questioned their allegiance to the country (interested parties could start with the phrase “objectively pro-terrorist,” and work their way through various keyword searches that include “Dick Durbin + Pol Pot” or “John + Kerry + patriotism”), but instead I will turn to the words of the GOP’s standard bearer, his vice-presidential nominee, and even his wife, as recently as two months ago.
Former Navy pilot John McCain took direct aim Saturday at Barack Obama’s recent comment that his primary victory in Iowa “vindicated” his faith in Americans.
“My country has never had to prove anything to me, my friends,” McCain insisted at a morning rally in Springfield, Va., and again at an airport hangar here in the Philadelphia suburbs.
“I’ve always had faith in it and I’ve been humbled and honored to serve it,” he added. “I haven’t been vindicated by anything.”
Sarah Palin, and really, it is hard to narrow it down to just one example:
“This is not a man who sees America as you and I do — as the greatest force for good in the world,” Palin said. “This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.”
In a rare move, Mrs. McCain also challenged Mrs. Obama’s remark, saying as she introduced her husband at a rally shortly after Obama’s remarks, “I’m proud of my country, I don’t know if you heard those words earlier. I’m very proud of my country.”
In fact, an argument could be made that questioning the Obama’s patriotism was the only growth industry of the last twelve months. I could go on, but why should I? We all know how silly this will get with me listing the hundreds of quotes from over the years, let alone the last campaign. And that is without even tapping into the gold mine of commercials released by the McCain campaign and the RNC.
Now what has Jon upset are some quotes that Democrats made when the Republicans put the kaibosh on the auto loans last week, in which Jennifer Granholm and others stated the action was “unpatriotic” and “un-American.” While I would personally not have used those terms, I would like to ask folks how they would describe sitting US Senators actively working with foreign auto manufacturers to drive down the wages of American labor because their states have heavy investments from foreign companies. I might not call it unpatriotic, but I sure as shit wouldn’t file it under patriotism, either.
Poor Republican victims.
(via)
*** Update ***
If you google the phrase “but don’t question their patriotism,” all sorts of fun stuff comes up, including this at the very top of the google search:
You know, back in the 2004 elections, those were the people who were complaining that their opponents were attacking their patriotism. They assured us that they loved this country just as much as anybody.
They don’t, really. What they love is an idealized version of this country that doesn’t exist. What they love is “America”, a fantasy state in which there are no conservatives, and especially no religious right. It’s an America where everyone has a fulfilling life of dignity and value, where there are no homeless people, no crime, and where fuzzy kitties and fluffy bunnies abound for the stroking.
The author of that?
Dale Franks, Jon Henke’s co-blogger at Q and O. Enter the phrase here, and you can find me in my wingnutty prime.
Nicole
Transference much, Mr. Henke?
dmsilev
In a just world, that woman would be tied to a chair with her eyelids strapped open ala A Clockwork Orange as a continuous video loop of wounded soldiers, disabled veterans, military funerals, etc. plays on a large screen. For the next several years.
-dms
tomjones
I don’t know, John. I agree that the Southern Republicans want to crush the UAW, but I believe it was more out of union antipathy. Afterall, if the unionized Midwest auto-workers reach wage parity with the non-union South, won’t the South have effectively lost its greatest comparative advantage?
The foreign companies don’t locate in the South for the educational opportunities or for culture, let me assure you. It’s the cheap labor. Republicans are cutting off their noses to spite their petty, pinched faces.
Sam
Watch yourself John. Henke stopped my site to object to my description of him as a moron, pointing out that he never explicitly said that Republicans didn’t question Democrats patriotism. So that’s his out. Because inferring something blatantly isn’t the same thing. Keep that straight.
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@Sam: …pointing out that he never explicitly said that Republicans didn’t question Democrats patriotism.
[eyeroll]
Just like no Republican ever said the exact words "I hereby accuse Democrat X of being unpatriotic", so therefore no Republican had ever accused Democrats of being unpatriotic.
Sorry to hear your blog got pooed on, Sam.
"Objectively pro-Terrorist" is a good search phrase. I also wonder what might have been the motivation for "John Kerry looks French."
Phoenix Woman
Quick O/T: It seems that Socks the cat’s days are numbered, though he’s had a good run — he’s probably made it to the age of 19.
He turned out to be a huuuuge tomcat — and not a fat one, either; just a really, really big and rangy beast, weighing in at fourteen pounds in his prime. (Here’s a pic of him from around 2003 or so. Betty must be a tiny woman, because she almost looks like she’s holding a tuxedo-colored leopard in her arms. Look at those long legs!)
kommrade reproductive vigor
Well duh! Every RealAmerican(TM) knows that the question of patriotism and love of one’s countrymen can only be raised:
1. By Republicans.
2. Over trivial matters such as suit bling and behavior at ball games or
3. When they’re trying to take a constitutional on the Constitution.
Using a concrete example of actual behavior that will effect actual people just isn’t fair.
I suppose next you’ll suggest that supporting the troops requires a little more than slapping a magnet made in China on one’s car. Liberals, hmmph!
Crusty Dem
I don’t know John, his first example was Max Cleland, what do you think of it? I thought the ad morphing him and bin Laden was as offensive as anything I’d ever seen (with the possible exception of the various Jesse Helms ads I saw in NC in 1984). Apparently, you disagreed.
Shade Tail
Uh, Gilchrist, I’m pretty sure Sam was being sarcastic.
Warren Terra
I’m sure that Henke’s sentiments here must pale in comparison to his contemporaneous denunciation of George W Bush for Bush’s statement before the 2002 midterms that the Senate Democrats didn’t care about protecting America because the Senate Democrats, in the process of overhauling the control of the borders and intelligence and such in response to 9/11 and writing the bill to create a Department of Homeland Security, were (briefly, naturally – they were Senate Democrats) blocking Senate Republican demands that the bill eviscerate certain unions in the process.
Or was that accusation of a lack of patriotism just accurate in the eyes of Henke?
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@Shade Tail: Uh, Gilchrist, I’m pretty sure Sam was being sarcastic.
I’m sympathetic to Sam, genuinely. I just didn’t write my comment very well. I meant to be trashing Henke.
AnneLaurie
The Plantation Patriot senators, and their (usually idiot) enablers, are intensely loyal to the Global Plantation Empire. They’re just too corrupt, lazy, or ill-informed to separate the concept of actual "patriotism", as in "wanting America to be a nation where everyone has a chance to do their best and be duly rewarded for their efforts" from their shallow brand of "Yay my team and screw the rest of y’all" pom-pom-waving. That’s one reason Dubya Bush, Boy Cheerleader, was so popular with these maroons… until he began to look like a loser, at which point they all started casting about for a newer shinier brand-name team to cheer.
Of course, there’s also a difference between supporting the Global Plantation Empire and supporting America, but the average fReichtard can’t understand this any more than the average dog can understand that the sanitation workers aren’t stealing the family’s valuable garbage.
ed
You think that horrid shithead pictured here understands how her image is bandied about in these precincts? Does she have a shred of self-awareness? One can only hope.
John Cole
@Crusty Dem: If I remember correctly, I thought the act of sending Cleland to the ranch with the note was a stunt, and felt (and still do) that it was a bad idea to send Cleland. I also hated (and still do) Kerry’s reporting for duty.
Additionally, I would say my biggest mistake in the 2004 election was taking the accusations against Kerry seriously, as if they were being made in good faith. I repeatedly shot down some BS- charges he was not a war hero, nonsense about hm at rallies with Fonda, and the like, but I also remember times when I would look at some of the Swift Boat arguments and say “Hrm, that is odd.” That was a mistake. I don’t know if I am seeing things more clearly now, but I sure have a different take on things.
For whatever reason, Democrats seemed to think during that era that Republicans would not attack them on these issues if they just had vets at the front and center. I think Obama fought this the right way- straight on.
As to the Cleland commercial, again, if I remember correctly, I didn’t initially think his patriotism was being questioned, but in later threads came around to the opinion the ads were wrong. I may not have, however. Again, this was four years ago, and a lot has changed. You should check the 2003 archives for me as a full-on frothing nutter.
Warren Terra
Henke explicitly stating that the infamous Saxby Chambliss ad against Cleland could only inspire "feigned outrage" is probably something of a giveaway …
Crusty Dem
I know John, I hadn’t really read up when I posted, tried to delete and was too late.
But every once in a while, I like to go through the archives and wonder what happened to the other John Cole… I’d like to thank whomever it was who replaced him with the cylon we all enjoy today.
kommrade reproductive vigor
@Warren Terra: It is a well known fact that Democrats don’t have emotions. Or souls.
In fact, we’re all Keanu Reeves.
Comrade Vida Loca
OK, how about "class warfare"? Has kind of a nice ring to it…
TCG
The Granholm statement about patriotism was stupid.
I’ve seen too much of this bullshit to partake in it unless… that is Bush has done something incredibly stupid and then I have a problem resisting.
Corker is an empty suit and a loser. I doubt highly that he unpatriotic. Some of his buddies in the senate are more just assholes than anything else on this issue.
Mike in NC
In a little over a month these saps will be boarding their very own Swift Boat to Irrelevance. Enjoy the ride!
Mr Furious
I might file it under "hangable offenses." Let me see that list of Senators again…
Brick Oven Bill
I’ve been thinking about the nature of American patriotism. The best I can come up with is that patriotism is support for the founding documents and the ideas behind them, specifically mentioning the Federalist Papers.
A person who supported these thoughts in 1789, which were pretty radical for the time, would have been defined a ‘patriot’. I don’t know how the definition could legitimately ‘evolve’ over time.
In any case Obama’s statement at the DNC convention that ‘he would not allow anyone to question his patriotism’ struck me as a gross conceptual error for a man of his education.
So, just for fun, I question his patriotism. Nah nah nah nah nah, nah.
sgwhiteinfla
Uhmmm doesn’t anybody remember Lee Atwater and George Bush 41 questioning Mike Dukakis’ patriotism. Remember, he supposedly didnt want kids to say the pledge of allegiance in schools. And also they said his wife burned a flag. Really a lot about that election was dredged back up for this election. Even the whole "Im not questioning his patriotism, Im questioning his judgement" line.
Comrade Stuck
Painting pictures is what Republicans do. Making a storyline to cast themselves in the best possible light of the moment. It is their one and only true idea. The noises they make about conservative principles are just that noises. When they are in power lots of different things happen, make unnecessary wars, break laws they don’t like, control women’s bodies, bash gays, etc.. etc…All designed to deflect the real intent of grabbing as much loot as they can. And when they are out of power, the portraits they paint are all about pouring different colors over the mess they have just made, and the methods they use to do their rotten business.
This time,the victim card attempting to gain public favor using the truly despicable method of accusing your political opponents of disloyalty to country, seems so laughable that it can’t possibly be believed. I give them credit though for being persistent liars, able to sustain bullshit long after it appears possible to do so. Match that with a lackey press looking only for news that entertains and an American public with attention spans of moths, and sooner or later it will resonate. Just like in maybe May of June of next year (maybe before) we will be inundated with the meme of "The Obama Recession" "The Obama War in Iraq" "The Obama Outsourcing of Jobs Overseas" etc… And little effort will be made by the Fourth Estate to correct the lie, just more grist for the Neverending Reality News Game Show of Dems V. Repubs. It will at some point allow the wingnuts to regain power and continue their one and only true policy objective, and that is to turn America into a Corporate Oligarchy. The Funhouse is always open!
Will Danz
The Republicans think it’s their royal birthright to to slime, smear, slander, put out an infinite amount of disgusting lies, and question the patriotism, citizenship and basic worth of any human who disagrees with their party.
But they whine like little bitches when they get a tiny bit of pushback.
They’re just lucky that the Democratic party is run by such spineless wonders as Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. A REAL opposition would have won even bigger in the last two elections, and screwed the shameless GOP pricks for an even longer time in the wilderness.
Fucking whiners.
sgwhiteinfla
Oh AND Atwater and Bush ran an ad eerily similar to the Cleland ad just without the bin Ladin pics. Remember Dukakis in the idiotic helmet on the tank with a list of bogus votes scrolling over the screen that he supposedly voted on against the security of the country? Like Biden said, past is prologue.
J. Michael Neal
Quick O/T: It seems that Socks the cat’s days are numbered, though he’s had a good run—he’s probably made it to the age of 19.
kay
@TCG:
I thought Granholm should have ruthlessly and ceaselessly played the regional card.
They need the upper midwest. They need at least 2 Great Lakes states, in a national election.
She didn’t need to attack patriotism. She should have just acted like an outraged Great Lakes governor.
She should have joined with Ohio’s governor, and done double-outraged.
It would have been effective.
Comrade The Other Steve
I’ve never been so proud of my country then I am after having read this essay. Jon Henke has vindicated my faith in the American people.
Comrade The Other Steve
Add one more to the Clinton body count.
El Cid
I would call it standard America-harming Southern conservatism, which prefers to constantly flirt with treason rather than enter into a formal marriage, ever since the unpleasantness of 1861.
sgwhiteinfla
As to the question of whether killing the auto bailout was patriotic or not, the real question is has there been a time in the last 50 years when the Republicans have been willing to truly sacrifice for the good of the country? Patriotism ain’t about wearing flag pins and giving speeches. Its about incurring some harm whether it be physical financial or other in order to advance the overall agenda of America. Republicans are in the business of making sure the other guy suffers for the sake of our country instead of themselves.
AnneLaurie
Talking like that would only give the Rethugs a chance to play the idiotic, deeply unpatriotic Politics-As-Sports meme. It’s not about which "team" wins this week’s "game", it’s about whether we can all hang together and prosper or whether the Global Plantation enablers are going to continue their short-term divide-and-conquer "wins". Yes, the Rethugs have lost the Midwest for a generation… if there’s a Rethug party left in 2016, or a Midwestern population to vote for it. But choosing to destroy a big part of our nation’s economy, and the lives of millions of our fellow Americans, is something more serious than another godsdamned political "sporting event."
Calouste
@ed:
Self-awareness is unpatriotic, ed.
Sam
Good grief – if you’re bored, Henke’s not letting this drop. Just wait until he finds out about this site. He’s insisting that he’s regularly criticized Republicans for questioning the patriotism of Democrats; he’s also claiming that Democrats routinely play this card against Republicans unfairly. Also, like Glenn Reynolds, he is a libertarian. Ahem.
John Cole
@Sam: Henke actually is a really nice guy. I have had dozens of interactions with him, traded emails, they have all been pleasant and I genuinely like him. This bit about the patriotism is just silly though.
If he were just arguing that it is wrong when either side questions the patriotism of people, I would be with him 100%, but he seems to have taken the position that not only is it the Democrats who are the ones who question the opposition’s patriotism, but they do it with regularity and are aided and abetted by the media.
Again, you just have to look at the last campaign- questioning Obama’s patriotism WAS the campaign.
TCG
@Kay
Makes some sense. Can’t disagree with you here.
Let us never wear a purple heart band aid. That was just sick.
Sam
I don’t know the man, so it is easier to judge him from that sheltered distance. But sufficed to say, when somebody makes an argument claiming one thing, despite an overwhelming amount of evidence suggesting that the very opposite thing is true, I have to question their willingness to play the game fairly. This seems like the classic Republican projection technique of the last eight years, where you take your weakness and put it onto your opponent. Clearly, some of the elected Republicans didn’t seem to give a good god damn about the nation these past few years, so of course they’d question the patriotism of the other side. Henke’s apparently willingness to go along with that, to the point of suggesting that it has only been Democrats questioning the patriotism of Republicans, makes me seriously wonder about his motivation. But again, I don’t know the man.
Incidentally, Erinn says hi.
cfw
How does it help Toyota/Nissan/Honda to drive down what GM/Chrysler pay for auto workers?
Lowering labor costs makes GM/Chrysler more competitive, not less. T/N/H want to see more costs per car at GM/C, not less.
Am I missing a link here?
El Cid
A lot of conservatives get real mad when somebody else plays with their patriotism teddy bear. They thought it was only their toy. Someone else playing with it is not fair, not fair.
El Cid
@cfw: You see, if the Big 3 (or 1 or 2) go under and there are hundreds of thousands or even millions of people laid off and businesses failing left and right, and older retirees losing pensions by the hundreds of thousands, there will be more people to buy Toyotas and Hondas and Nissans and Hyundais and VWs and Mercedes and BMW because, well, shut up, that’s why. Just because. Okay?
r€nato
And you find this surprising? According to Republicans:
9/11 was entirely Clinton’s fault even though it happened 8 months into Bush’s first term.
Democrats didn’t do anything to stop Osama bin Laden, even though when Clinton tried to kill him, Republicans got upset because it was obvious that Clinton was trying to distract from the real threat to the Republic, blow jobs from interns.
Democrats are the party of big government and big government spending, even though the national debt was $5 trillion and dropping when Clinton left office, and after 8 years of Bush the national debt nearly doubled to $10.5 trillion and will continue to soar. In fact the last three GOP presidents are responsible for the vast majority of the national debt.
The GOP is the party that ‘gets government off your back’… while it’s busy putting it in your bedroom, listening in on your phone calls and revoking basic civil rights such as habeas corpus.
Steve V
Well fucking said John. I’m really blown away by the ability of "conservatives" to play victim.
J. Michael Neal
The goal isn’t to lower wages. It’s to come up with a demand that the UAW won’t accept, and use that as an excuse to drive GM into bankruptcy. I have no doubt that, had the UAW agreed to the proposal made, they’d have kept finding objections until the union walked away.
OriGuy
Admittedly, he did look silly, but I wonder if he looked any better when he was stationed in Korea in 1955?
Limniade
Don’t forget Michelle Bachmann’s million-dollar (for her opponent) performance just before the election.
Of course, the most aggravating thing about that whole debacle was that SHE STILL WON.
Zuzu's Petals
@dmsilev:
Not to mention that her dentures are the worst ever.
Zuzu's Petals
@John Cole:
John, if you ever have a moment of wondering if anything that the sleazeboaters claimed about Kerry’s military record was ever proven true, set your mind at ease. They scored a complete zero on the truth-o-meter.
A good resource, by the way:
First-rate debunking site
I really appreciate your bravery in allowing some of those things in the archives to stay. Quite instructive, really … though I was wishing I could hit the "respond" key to some of those jerks commenting in 2004.
trollhattan
Whoa and damn John, that ’04 post was something, as were the comments. Ah, nostalgia.
But what the heck, those moonbat commenters seem to have been right. Are cats ‘n dogs now sleeping together?
TenguPhule
They were willing to impeach Nixon.
I suppose it was the thought that counted.
Screamin' Demon
They weren’t willing to do shit until the release of the smoking gun transcript on August 5, 1974. It was only then that Nixon’s base of support in Congress eroded. Jesus Christ, read some fucking history.
kay
@AnneLaurie:
Late response, but I’ll try. I like the numbers part of politics. I enjoy the aspect where you have to put a map together like a puzzle. I don’t think the practical aspects subvert your (perhaps) larger idea. I think they make the larger idea possible. I don’t know how you do one without the other.
I don’t follow sports at all, any sports, so if I’m turning something serious into a sporting event, I hit on it by accident.
"Sports" is fairly pervasive, as you know, so it’s possible.
Unsurprisingly, Granholm knows the auto industry better than anyone in DC. I listen to her on the radio. I want her out there beating them over the head with that, instead of calling them unpatriotic.
Shinobi
Jon Henke is a really nice guy, he’s one of the most rational republicans I am acquainted with. (Perhaps because he is a republitarian?)
But he is wrong about this. Sometimes he has very valid points, but there just isn’t a lot of evidence to back him up here. Republicans are not the victim of a vast left wing patriotism undermining conspiracy.
As I pointed out over on Sam’s blog: questioning people’s patriotism in politics is like teenage boys calling each other gay. It is regrettable, offensive, unproductive, and everyone freaking does it. I think we could certainly agree that its time to put the kabosh on that, and move to more substantive policy disagreements.
demimondian
Here’s the problem: Granholm was right. The Southern Republicans are working to destroy the nation as a whole for the benefit of their base among their constituents. They’ve put their personal comfort above that of the nation. We elect folks to make hard decisions, even if the Club for Growth will come after them later. These folks chose to profit, instead of fulfilling their responsibilities.
That isn’t a crime — but, in an elected official, it is unpatriotic.
bootlegger
So we have one definition of patriotism that says you must pledge fealty to our founding documents and some papers written by one-side of the debate back in the day. While another definition views patriotism as sacrifice for country.
I have to favor the latter though I would add that a willingness to defend some basic precepts (liberty, justice, equality), not just some papers, is part of being an American patriot.
Personally, though, I don’t like the jingoism and nationalism suggested by people today when they say "patriot". By my definition I’m a patriot, and proud to be one. But the way that term is used 80% of the time, mostly in Greater Wingnutistan, I say go hump yerselfs.
MH
Ah some choice cuts of wingnuttery from 2004, the latest vintages just can’t compare:
From JPS:
From Tina:
Hyperion
@cfw:
how about "a repub gets his wings when worker salaries anywhere are decreased?"
AnneLaurie
I like the numbers part of politics. I enjoy the aspect where you have to put a map together like a puzzle. I don’t think the practical aspects subvert your (perhaps) larger idea. I think they make the larger idea possible. I don’t know how you do one without the other.
Agreed, Kay. But after 35 years of letting the Rethuglicans (and their Democratic enablers) reduce all social & political issues to hairsplitting, gerrymandering & rules-lawyering, I want to see Gov. Granholm start with "This Republican vote is unpatriotic" and then move to "… and it will lose them Michigan and Ohio, also probably Indiana, for many voting cycles to come (the stupidheads)."
Egilsson
Wow, you really were a wingnut. I love this beatdown one of your commenters then delivered. :)
I always thought the fact that Kerry killed a man while serving his country after ASKING to go to Vietnam was a significant fact, and when I saw fat stupid republicans mocking him and sporting those asinine band-aids, I was seething. It still pisses me off.
Kerry was underappreciated, although he clearly made some pretty dumb mistakes.
Egilsson
well, that didn’t block quote right.
You get the gist.
Fourten
I know I’m late to the party on this topic, but it was the treason talk that turned me from a left-learning occasional voter into a phone banking, door knocking, money donating, wingnut meme shredding left wing WAR MACHINE. (see: Bill Foster)
You can disagree with me, but you call me a traitor and it is on like DONKEY F%&*ING KONG!
BruinKid
When Paul Broun (R-GA) says he’s not comparing Obama to Hitler, and then goes ahead and compares Obama to Hitler, yes, he is implicitly questioning Obama’s patriotism to this country. Figured I’d throw in a post-election example there.
Zuzu's Petals
@Egilsson:
I agree on both counts.