#patriot

The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government. ↗

— Thomas Paine

#political-philosophy #political

...He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively is he must. He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march. He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient. ...He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cool his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. ...He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low. He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life- or take it, because that is his job. He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed. He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to "square-away" those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. ...Just as did his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over two hundred years. He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood. And now we even have women over there in danger, doing their part in this tradition of going to war when our nation calls us to do so. As you go to bed tonight, remember this. A short lull, a little shade, and a picture of loved ones in their helmets. ↗

— Sarah Palin

#inspirational #patriotic #sentimental #death

There are two kinds of patriotism -- monarchical patriotism and republican patriotism. In the one case the government and the king may rightfully furnish you their notions of patriotism; in the other, neither the government nor the entire nation is privileged to dictate to any individual what the form of his patriotism shall be. The gospel of the monarchical patriotism is: "The King can do no wrong." We have adopted it with all its servility, with an unimportant change in the wording: "Our country, right or wrong!" We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had:-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism. ↗

— Mark Twain

#change

All wars are civil wars because all men are brothers... Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born. ↗

— François Fénelon

#humans #nationalism #patriotism #war #men

Liberty? Independence? Are they to remain only words? Gentlemen, let us make them fighting words! ↗

— Nathan Hale

#patriotism #inspirational

Society can give its young men almost any job and they'll figure how to do it. They'll suffer for it and die for it and watch their friends die for it, but in the end, it will get done. That only means that society should be careful about what it asks for. ... Soldiers themselves are reluctant to evaluate the costs of war, but someone must. That evaluation, ongoing and unadulterated by politics, may be the one thing a country absolutely owes the soldiers who defend its borders. ↗

— Sebastian Junger

#duty #patriotism #sacrifice #war #men

I see the clouds which now rise thick and fast upon our horizon, the thunder rolls, and the lightenings play, and to that God who rides on the whirlwind and directs the storm I commit my country. ↗

— Josiah Quincy

#patriotic #inspirational

The Patriot Act addresses various subjects. Some sections are beneficial and enhance our national security. ↗

— Mike Honda

#beneficial #enhance #national #national security #our

It is our conduct, our patriotism and belief in our American way of life, our courage that will win the final battle. ↗

— Prescott Bush

#american way #battle #belief #conduct #courage

Not surprisingly, some of the super-rich declined to join the Patriotic Millionaires when the Agenda Project reached out to them. At least two airily dismissed the Bush tax cuts for millionaires and above - which will cost well over $700 billion over the coming decade - as small potatoes. ↗

— Joe Conason

#agenda #billion #bush #bush tax cuts #coming