Patriots Need Reality Check: ’We the people’ must stand up for the truth about our country’s actions

U.S. Patriots Need a Reality Check
’We the people’ must stand up for the truth about our country’s actions
by Byron Williams

There are moments when a democratic society must compare the utopian ideals it committed to on paper versus the reality of its praxis. In the 229 years since declaring itself a sovereign nation, America has had several such reality checks.

Women’s suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement are examples of America being challenged to authentically live up to the ideals found in its two most cherished documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

These movements were spawned by profound acts of patriotism — individuals whose love of a country exceeded the injustices they endured in the dominant culture.

I believe the recently published memo in the Sunday London Times suggesting the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to support its desire to wage war in Iraq has again brought us to a reality check moment.

As we collectively stand at the intersection of patriotism and nationalism, we are presented with a question: Which direction will America take?

Patriotism and nationalism, especially in moments of crisis, are often confused.

Patriotism is simply defined as love and devotion to one’s country, while nationalism is the devotion to the interests of a nation; a subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless.

Nationalism itself does not carry a negative connotation, but that which is currently practiced in America is cause for great concern.

While patriotism finds its roots in dissent and questioning, the contemporary form of American nationalism depends on the power of groupthink. The Nazi regime remains the gold standard of nationalism gone awry.

Nationalism tends to sound like patriotism, especially when married to fear. It is the emotion of fear that causes one to focus on self-preservation — seductively lured into seeing the world as good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, or us vs. them.

Most Americans intuitively understand there is nothing in keeping with American values to justify the torture at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. Yet, the majority has remained on the sidelines while the Defense Department investigated itself and found only a "few bad apples" were at fault.

The same holds true for the memo in question dated July 23, 2002 — a full seven months before the invasion of Iraq.

In a report by the former head of British Intelligence MI6, Richard Dearlove, who had recently returned from meetings with the Bush Administration, to Prime Minister Tony Blair states: "Military action was now seen as inevitable."

According to Dearlove, "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD (weapons of mass destruction). But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

If the response to the memo is based on nationalism’s "America: my country right or wrong," the subject obviously is closed.

If, however, one believes that America’s raison d’etre includes establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, we must have answers.

With more than 1600 Americans dead along with countless numbers of Iraqis, is it not a sad commentary that doubt lingers as to why we invaded Iraq preemptively?

It is not enough for Senators to take to the Sunday talk shows, as did John Mc Cain, R-Ariz., to simply declare that he did not agree with the memo.

Why are runaway brides, freaks on trial, and false security scares at the Capitol bigger news stories than potentially the clearest evidence to date that the President of the United States did not level with the American people before going to war?

The biggest difference between nationalism and patriotism is the overall impact of the former weakens the nation while the latter strengthens it. No amount of yellow ribbons or "I Support the Troops" bumper stickers can mask the stain of complacency if we choose nationalism over our patriotic responsibility to demand answers from our elected officials.

America has never been weakened when "We the People" have demanded the truth. We owe that much. Not only to the country, but also to the families whose loved ones have returned home by way of Dover AFB.

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