The duty of a patriot
I really, really like William Rivers Pitt’s definition of a patriot’s duty:
The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say ‘No.’
Context: We have a patriotic duty to stand against the USA Patriot Act. (Citizens in hundreds of U.S. communities — who recognize unconstitutionality when they see it — are doing just that.)
On a related note, cartoonist Mark Fiore entertainingly blasts John Ashcroft’s Patriot Act Summer Tour.
More seriously, Walter Cronkite minces no words about the USA Patriot Act, saying, “In his 2 1/2 years in office, Attorney General John Ashcroft has earned himself a remarkable distinction as the Torquemada of American law.”
I really want to add my 2¢, but each time I try I have to keep striking out uncharitable words like stupid and clueless concerning anyone’s support for these thugs now that so much about them is out in the broad light of day. So I’d rather wait until I can be a bit more constructive than that.
2003-09-25 update: Meteor Blades articulates the constructive reframe I’m looking for: Bush supporters aren’t stupid and clueless; they’ve been betrayed.
![[Creative Commons logo]](/images/ccLogo.gif){kind=small}