Word: patriotism
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have eagerly passed legislation that abrogates civil liberties with only a cursory glance at the consequences. One of the first sweeping assaults on freedom was the USA PATRIOT Act, which passed the Senate by a 98-1 vote on Oct. 26, 2001. Both Republicans and Democrats were complicit in supporting the bill as neither side was willing to appear soft on terrorism so soon after Sept. 11; little seems to have changed since then...
...reasonable to expect some restrictions of civil liberties during a time of war, and some of the PATRIOT Act’s provisions are necessary to help law enforcement officials deal with changing technology. But America will never be able to declare victory in the war on terror; this conflict, unlike a conventional war, will never end in unconditional surrender. Any sacrifices we make will be permanent. As if to drive that point home, the government has recently been pushing to overturn the original four-year “sunset” limits on the PATRIOT Act?...
...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...