Word: patrioteer
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...government has declared a military victory in Iraq. As a patriot, I will not celebrate. I will mourn the dead—the American GIs, and also the Iraqi dead, of which there have been many, many more...
...patriot, contemplating the dead GI’s, should I comfort myself (as, understandably, their families do) with the thought: “They died for their country.” But I would be lying to myself. Those who die in this war will not die for their country. They will die for their government. They will die for Bush and Cheyney and Rumsfeld. And yes, they will die for the greed of the oil cartels, for the expansion of the American empire, for the political ambitions of the President. They will die to cover up the theft...
...patriotism in the best sense (not in the monarchical sense) is loyalty to the principles of democracy, then who was the true patriot, Theodore Roosevelt, who applauded a massacre by American soldiers of 600 Filipino men, women, and children on a remote Philippine island, or Mark Twain, who denounced...
Proponents claim that legislation under the PATRIOT Act has worked well as a useful tool for effectively eradicating terrorism. Granted, the PATRIOT Act isn’t all bad, but it was written in haste during a period of anti-terrorism hysteria—its provisions responded to the panic of the time by granting the government overly-extensive powers. And many in Congress, uncomfortable with all of its provisions, voted for the act with the reassurance that the sunset clause would eliminate the legislation a few years later...
...when terror threats jeopardize our way of life, America needs a new plan for terrorism. But instead of permanently adopting legislation full of affronts on individual liberties, Congress must prevent Hatch’s rider from getting passed. A new anti-terrorism plan may draw on some of the PATRIOT Act’s more successful legislation, but blindly accepting the existing act will inadequately fight terrorism and extensively curb our freedoms...