On Being A Patriot

Kay, there is this really good episode of the West Wing, where Ainsley Hays, a Republican, accepts a job working for the White House counsel’s office (the fictional White House being Democrat). At the end of the episode, she meets up with her Republican friends, who are making fun of the Democrats and the White House. Ainsley Hays stops them and tells them not to make fun of White House staff, because, despite all of their wrongful ideological learning, they are patriots.

After being in Washington, DC for the past 9 months, and slowly learning more and more about the country next door, I've reached a strange conclusion (of the post drinking with republicans in a dubious DC bar nature, i.e. the not very profound kind): Republicans have effectively managed to spin and sew up the whole Republican and patriot are synonyms thing. I mean, that's what this whole, Democrats voting in favor of the Iraq war was. Basically any time you spoke out against the (Republican) administration, you were being unpatriotic.

Now times are a changing... however, back at home, this whole discussion on extending anti - terrorism measure is a bit troubling to me... cause I am worried that Harper is trying to do the same thing... but subtlety (or not so subtly) he's trying to paint Liberal as being unpatriotic or un Canadian in their decision making process...

Now this post isn't about whether I think extending the clauses or not (I'm actually of two minds about this)... but rather, to serve as a warning... that Harper's trying to frame debates in the same way as the Republican did… Politics and partisanship, isn’t a patriotic competition – anyone who seeks public office (tough job that it is) does it because they are committed to public serve in some way shape or form…Framing the debate into a discussion about who is more patriotic… is dangerous, and we deserve better…