The Patriotism of Protest

by Keith Cooper

From Broader View Weekly, April 24, 2009

For the past eight years, dissent has been viewed by many as a lack of patriotism. Pundits on Fox News and talk radio would demonize protestors for hating America or failing to support the government’s agenda.

For example, when the Dixie Chicks dared to make a public statement criticizing George W. Bush (during his march to war with Iraq), a media campaign was launched that sought to destroy the careers of, and mobilize a grass-roots persecution of Natalie Maines and other band members. Results included death threats to Maines and radio network boycotts of the group.

Fast forward to 2009 and a different mood has dawned on conservative media. National Tax Day Tea Party events were organized largely based on the instigation of those same pundits. Only this time it was acceptable to criticize the administration during a time when our servicemen and women are engaged overseas. In fact, this time dissent was the epitome of patriotism.

For weeks Fox News has been promoting its coverage of the Tea Parties, which were billed as grass-roots protests of taxes imposed by the Obama administration’s policies. Interesting omissions were discussions of the facts that the T.A.R.P. bailout program was the product of the Bush administration, and that the federal surplus its administration inherited from Bill Clinton had been frittered away by excessive spending and unrealistic tax cuts. Those policies contributed greatly to the tax burden that these protests claim to deplore.

The coverage of the actual events exaggerated turnouts, inflating numbers at certain locations to nearly twice the official estimates.

Even local media coverage of events in our area seemed to misrepresent the scope and size of the events. One regional newspaper devoted several column inches to the gathering in Corning, NY’s Centerway Square, which was organized by the Steuben County Young Republicans. Cherry-picked quotes implied that the event had a bipartisan appeal, even though the bulk of the commentary and signs depicted a strong partisan bias. A sidebar alluding to the nationwide events and verbal embellishment gave the impression of a much larger turnout than other estimates suggest.

I am happy to see that dissent and the patriotism of protest are alive and well after a brief absence during the Bush reign. I am a little disappointed that see signs referring to a sizable group of Americans who support the president as the “Obamanation”, as if it were an abomination; or others that compared Obama to Hitler or Stalin. Especially when dissenters on the left were demonized when those misguided comparisons were made to Bush or former Vice President Dick Cheney.

If we continue to cling to double standards like these when it is politically expedient, there is little hope that we can bridge the gaps we must in order to weather the storms that face us in these troubled times.

Distinctions have rightly been drawn between our current struggles and those of early last century. Our economy is stronger than during the Great Depression. Our unemployment rate is much lower than during those dark days. The military actions of today are minor compared to the consuming World Wars of the 20th Century.

However, we are also living in an America that is drastically different. The divisive nature of our politics and social issue thwarts the unity that allowed us to meet yesterday’s challenges. Today’s average citizen is so averse to personal sacrifice that one can scarcely imagine the dedication it required to return the U.S. to the peace and prosperity it enjoyed by the latter part of the last century. We are unlikely to see anything that approaches the noble selflessness of the Greatest Generation. Perhaps we are too concerned with the easy and unearned celebrity of American Idol or reality television to even care.

But if we are to envision a brighter future, we had better learn to care – not just about parties and personalities; not even about policies and issues. We must care about concerns beyond our own narrow interests. We must care about the dream and vision of what our nation could and should be and not blind nationalism. And we must care about our fellow man. Until we realize that we share common challenges and common consequences, we will never succeed no matter how a few may prosper.

May we raise our voices in protest against injustice and may our voices be heard. Yet, may we not be led by those with political agendas into destructive divisions that stand in the way of progress. Only then can we truly celebrate the patriotism of protest.