Word: patriotism
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
This is not Cambridge’s first gesture of civil disobedience. On June 17, 2002, the council passed a resolution declaring that Cambridge would not cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security to enforce provisions of the USA PATRIOT act which violate citizens’ civil liberties...
...Take my neighbor, a Québecois who repeatedly insisted to Tanzanians who spoke of their desire to emigrate to America that it was a “racist, abusive place.” He himself professed to be frightened to cross the American border. (The Patriot Act, he explained, had turned the U.S. into a police state.) And why, he wondered, would anyone want to go to America when Africa was such a paradise...
...fellow bikers to form a human shield between Phelps' disciples and the bereaved, blocking the protesters' signs with flags and occasionally revving their engines to drown out the insults. Soon the riders outgrew the protesters. Phelps' church has only about 75 members, mostly his relatives. But the newly named Patriot Guard expanded exponentially and today claims 28,000 bikers and supporters. They attend every single military funeral for which the family gives permission. "We joined because of Fred Phelps, but now the whole focus is off Fred Phelps," says California state coordinator Cheryl Egan. "It's more about the troop...
...Quist, the leader of the group at Captain Ian Weikel's funeral in Colorado Springs, Colo., last week, "and we want to say thank you to this next generation." Others are hobbyists a generation younger and simply happy to pay respects. The group is strictly culture-war neutral. Notes Patriot Guard California state ride captain David (Scooter) Bolton: "Nobody cares if [a rider is] gay or not. It's not a meet-and-greet-and-date organization. It's to honor fallen heroes...
David Weikel is certainly thankful that the Patriot Guard spoke up. He was warned that Phelps' supporters might show up at his son Ian's funeral in Colorado Springs. "What a hateful group of people," says Weikel, a former pastor. In the end, Phelps' people were absent, but the bikers showed up. "I love them deeply," Weikel says, adding a sentiment not often applied to the hog-and-leathers set: "I appreciate their ministry in my life...