patriotism considered evil

[Tim May]

On Tuesday, April 29, 2003, at 11:17  PM, Adam Back wrote:

> Some observations on the nouns "Patriot", and "American" etc as they
> relate to current events.
>
> I'm not American.  I'm dual-national British/Swiss, I've lived in
> Britain, Scotland, Canada and now the US.  But I have not noticed
> anyone in Britain, or British press discussing "un-British" behavior,
> or putting down anyone attempting to ask questions as "un-patriotic".

Part of the problem has been the longer time it takes the Brits to 
establish what is "un-British."

It takes more time for marching orders to propagate from Washington to 
London, so there's this delay. And sometimes the signals with 
Washington get crossed.


> (Ditto for the other countries).  Press coverage of Iraq is varyingly
> biased in those countries (ridiculously so in the US, somewhat in the
> UK due to their involvement).  Opinion in the UK is split, but I don't
> see those on the pro-side of the fence arguing that those arguing
> against are unpatriotic or anything.

A quick search of the news with Google turns up articles like this one:

<http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2425843a12,00.html>

"Galloway, a member of Prime Minister Tony Blair's ruling Labour Party, 
  is currently at his holiday home in Portugal writing a book about  the 
Iraq war. He has issued a string of forceful denials from there.

Labour Party officials are already examining controversial remarks  by 
Galloway who called Blair and President George W Bush "wolves"  for 
attacking Iraq.

The Scottish MP, a constant target of tabloid attacks, has been dubbed  
MP for Baghdad Central for his opposition to the Iraq war."

--end excerpt--

It seems to me that the tabloids and others calling someone "MP for 
Baghdad Central" is a counterexample to your claim.

Of course, this isn't a survey of the _prevalence_ or _magnitude_ of 
the claims, but it's an example that at least some Brits on the pro-war 
side are using slurs about the patriotism of the opponents.

Also, note that Sky News in the U.K. is part of Rupert Murdoch's 
empire, and Murdoch is the controlling force behind Fox. "Fair and 
balanced" = the most blatantly jingoistic television network visible on 
American t.v.

Brits can be as jingoistic as Americans. Football (soccer in the 
States) riots are another example.


--Tim May
"As my father told me long ago, the objective is not to convince someone
  with your arguments but to provide the arguments with which he later
  convinces himself." -- David Friedman