Patriotism: The outrage

On the front page of your Nov. 16 edition, a place where one expects to see the most important news of the day, you have a photo of a man who has kept his American flag hidden away for “much of the past eight years.”

Seven years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, our country was viciously attacked, and thousands of men, women and children lost their lives to the despicable acts of people who had hidden themselves in our midst and plotted against us. Did Ronnie Chapman tuck his flag away in the den when firemen and EMS personnel were desperately trying to rescue victims from the World Trade Center? Has it occurred to him that because of the vigilance and hard work of Homeland Security workers at airports and borders, and the sacrifices of men and women of our armed forces both here and abroad, there has not been another attack?

Chapman has been safe in Cary with his American flag hidden away, while courageous people of an all-volunteer service have kept additional attacks from San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Raleigh, and all other American cities and towns.

When Chapman thinks of “Bush and support for his war,” maybe he should feel a little bit of gratitude to the president and all of the other people who have given so much so he can be safe in his Cary drugstore.

I know that I am grateful.

Mary O. Cooke
Wake Forest

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Reading my Nov. 16 N&O, I decided I have had enough. The article “Winds of patriotism renewed” was a slap in the face to all who voted for Hillary Clinton, John McCain and George Bush.
I guess we need to take our flags down now if the person in the White House determines whether we are proud of our country and proud to be an American.

I am 66 years old. I remember Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Nixon, Mr. Carter, Mr. Reagan and both Mr. Bushes. I was proud of my country during all those presidents. Mr. Ford also. I am also a Vietnam veteran. The N&O did not even use up space on the front page to thank us veterans on Veterans Day. There was a small article on Page 5A, and this patriotism story gets front page.

I am now proud of my country and proud to be an American with Obama being president. I don’t agree with him, but he is my president-to-be. I will not take my flag down no matter what he does.
Remember 9/11/01, all those flags that went up. Under Bush’s watch, we have not had another attack.

You are either proud of your country or not, no matter who the president is, white, black, green or yellow, Democrat or Republican.

James M. Brown
Kenly

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A lot has been written lately about people’s view on patriotism. I would argue that there is a difference in loving your country and being proud of your country. What makes this such a wonderful country is the ability of its citizens to question and make changes when it is on a wrong path. I have always loved my country, but I haven’t always loved or been proud of what my country has done. I would ask people who believe in unquestioning allegiance to a country to look back in history to some of the tragedies that has caused.  

This country has been divided for eight years by this sort of dispute. All of that time, Democratic and liberal sons and daughters have fought right along with the Republican sons and daughters in Iraq. Now that the election is over, it would be good if we could stop challenging others patriotism and work together like true patriots.   

Gerti Hamilton
Cary
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In response to your Nov. 16 article “Winds of patriotism renewed”: It is simply amazing to hear people say that they are now proud to display their flag because of who was elected president. The flag should have much more value to you than it does. Old Glory is not for fair-weathered fans.  

As a career soldier, and more importantly as an American citizen, I’m proud to fly my flag daily, regardless of who is president. The flag is a representation of the United States of America — not a political party. It has survived many wars, and many injustices, but it continues to wave for each citizen it sees, and for the entire world to see. Youll find it on the sleeves of military servicemen and women all over this world, regardless of their political affiliations. It has draped the coffins of millions of Americans over time, as a sign of respect in honor of their service.  

Wake up, America. Our enemies are watching us all the time. They long for the day that we become a nation divided. It’s time to put political beliefs aside and act in unison as Americans.  

Joe Weber
Garner

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The photo of the smiling mother and daughter in their Obama T-shirts in front of a large American flag expressing their pride in being Americans now that Barack Obama is going to be our president was interesting indeed.

I hope that their patriotism and pride will include learning flag etiquette, for that includes knowing that the American flag is properly displayed with the field of blue to the viewer’s left whether the flag is displayed vertically or horizontally. The photo immediately below theirs, with the flag displayed horizontally, was properly displayed.

They will undoubtedly watch Obama’s swearing in ceremony Jan. 20 in Washington, and I would hope that they notice the backdrop of several vertical American flags with all their fields of blue to the viewers left!!

Richard C. Dillman
Raleigh

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What started out as a clear, sunny, crisp fall day soon became gloomy as I read the front-page story “Winds of patriotism renewed.” Is this what our nation has become, one of fair weather citizens pleased with government when it suits them?

How little do they think of our nation if they hide away an American flag, stating it “was no longer a symbol of the country.” Such beliefs say more about people like Ronnie Chapman than they do about our nation.

But, this is no surprise, as Chapman along with others “now proud” of our nation don’t seem to understand what it means to be an American.

It does not mean you go into hibernation when you are dissatisfied with the policies of an administration, or the legislation of a Congress. No, you enter the debate, contact your representatives, go to meetings of your party, lend your voice.

You do not hide away your flag until the political winds become more favorable.

Raven Moeslinger was quoted as saying, “For years it’s felt like patriotism was a Republican thing.” Again, this is quite telling, as it says more about the education Moeslinger has received at UNC-Chapel Hill than it does about our nation.

There are a couple things people will notice once President-elect Obama’s term in office begins.

The first, millions of citizens who supported Sen. John McCain will continue to fly the American flag as they have done during the Bush administration. They will not think less of our nation — no matter how they view the sitting president.

Secondly, the majority of the young men and women who step forward to serve in the military will be the ones who have an enduring love of our nation, without reservation, something that cannot be said of those quoted in this story.

Anthony Bruno
Cary

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I read with interest the article on patriotism and found it interesting that now that “their” candidate is in office, they can be patriotic. I did not, nor would I ever vote for Barack Obama, based purely on moral issues, but I “will” continue to fly my flag in support of my country, not a man.

I have no problem with a black man being president; just this one. My problem lies in the fact that our country has never been more divided, even during the Civil War. Politicians, and it would seem, church leaders have instigated racial and class warfare that has made us a nation divided. What has happened to the day when people could disagree without hating one another?

I disagree with my president-elect, but I have encouraged my congregation to pray for him because he’s our president. If we, as a nation, continue down this path of divisiveness, it is only a matter of time until we cease to be a world power. We were a Christian nation and we were Americans first, that is what has made us great. It seems we have lost both. We would do well to heed the motto of Kentucky, “United we stand, divided we fall.”

Pastor Ron Aldridge
Pittsboro

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Your Nov. 16 article by J. Peder Zane and Kristin Collins pointed out the hypocrisy of fair-weather patriots like Ronnie Chapman. He claimed to have hidden his flag for the past eight years because “it was ... a symbol of Bush and support for his war.”

The Iraq War is only just over five years old, and 9/11 hadn’t even occurred eight years ago so I am not sure which “war” he is referring to. A true patriot would support his country and elected president, even if he disagreed with him and his policies.

I will support Barack Obama as our country’s duly elected president, even though I disagree with nearly everything he stands for and will pray and work for the best for my country. I will dissent against policies I disagree with in any way I can, but I will still fly my flag every day as I have for the last 20 years. Unlike Chapman, I don’t turn my patriotism on and off when it is convenient.

Ling Sriraman
Raleigh

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I don’t know when I have been so disgusted about an article as I was about “patriotism renewed.” To spend the time to cover this anti-American attitude was ignorant. Where are your articles on those who support our country and president no matter which side they are for?

My patriotism to this country does not depend on one person winning the election. It is based on the people of this country, no matter what party, race or religion.

If you are a real patriot then you will fly the flag of our country proudly every day not when one person happens to be elected.

Thank God for all the true patriots in this country who are not as narrowminded as those you chose to write about.

Bill Haussmann
Southern Pines

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Your Nov. 16 front-page article “Winds of patriotism renewed” noted what your reporters claimed to be a new phenomenon: “the emergence of an unusual — and some might say contradictory — new figure: the flag-waving liberal.”

There is nothing unusual or contradictory in being a patriotic liberal. Your article repeated the most outrageous slur in the “conservative” lexicon — that liberals are unpatriotic, America-haters, traitors, not “real” Americans — as though it were established truth. Yet from the birth of our republic, its truest patriots have been its most radical liberals. Consider a few quotes:

Sam Adams: Driven from every other corner of the earth, freedom of thought and the right of private judgment in matters of conscience, direct their course to this happy country as their last asylum.

John Adams: The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking and writing.

Alexander Hamilton: In a free government, the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights. It consists in the one case in the multiplicity of interests, and in the other in the multiplicity of sects.

Patrick Henry: Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel.

James Madison: [A]ll power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people.

Freedom, liberty, individual rights — these are radical and ultimately liberal ideals. Every American who loves liberty is at heart a liberal, and true patriots know this. It is time (indeed, it is long past time) to put to an end the notion that “liberal” is a dirty word.

Pete Bledsoe
Raleigh

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Thanks for your piece on our liberal friends’ newfound sense of patriotism. It illustrated perfectly the conditional nature of leftist thinking. With them, the concept of a loyal opposition does not exist; it’s either their way or the highway.

I don’t think liberals understand what patriotism is. It seems patriotism to them is, “My side won, we run things now therefore I’m feeling very good so I’ll fly the flag I won in battle.” If they had lost, they would feel every justification to burn the flag as a show of protest.

I could write a long treatise about patriotism and how it’s about shared values etc. but what’s the point? You either get it or you don’t, and they don’t.

Greg Dail
Cary

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Regarding your Nov. 16 article “Winds of patriotism renewed”:
Patriotism — to hide your flag away for eight years because the elections did not go the way you wanted? I don’t think so! I know that a true patriot is the person who keeps trying, win or lose, to enjoy our great country and to do everything he legally can to keep our country great.

I believe Theodore Roosevelt expressed this very well in his famous quotation that follows:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Jesse Adams
Fuquay-Varina

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This is in reference to “Winds of patriotism renewed” on your Nov. 15 front page.

It’s amazing that people have now found patriotism and will now fly the flag. I have been flying the flag for years through Republican and Democratic presidents. The flag means freedom to me, freedom to choose a new president, Congress or Senate, and the freedom to change things. It does not matter whether my vote wins or loses as long as I get to do it again at a later date.

What the flag means most, to me personally, is a remembrance of all the blood that has been, and will be, spilled for me to enjoy this freedom. Our fathers, grandfathers, mothers, sons and daughters have fought for the freedoms I have today. I fly the flag to honor them.

Maybe all of the people who have recently started flying the flag should recite the “Star Spangled Banner” to find out what the true meaning of the flag is. But the shame of it is that they probably don’t even know the words to it. They probably think that Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” is the national anthem .

James Coull
Clayton

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Winds of patriotism renewed! Indeed! As a WWII vet, I took deep umbrage putting the story on the front page. Do we just turn patriotism off when an unpopular war or president gets elected? Do we turn patriotism on when “our” man gets elected?

The pharmacist from Cary stated: “I felt it was no longer a symbol of the country that I love.” What symbol did he think represented him in our great country?

Quoting the article further: “One of the great failures of the Democratic Party during the last few decades is how they have ceded God and the flag to the Republicans. Even as many of the Democratic voters have continued to wave the flag, party leaders and elite liberal opinion leaders have equated patriotism with rednecks and deep faith with dangerous morons.”

We cannot and should not politicize the American flag for whatever reason. Freedom of expression is worth fighting for, but not honoring the flag at anytime is unforgivable.
Period.

Warren J Esperseth
Raleigh

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The excellent article “Winds of patriotism renewed” brought to light how many myopic people live and thrive in our great country. These out of the closet patriots, most of whom have never heard a shot fired in anger in support of their freedoms, seem to always want to pin the flag to their political agenda. The flag is a symbol of their freedom, to dissent or to be generally obnoxious. It is also worn and revered by the servicemen and women who put their lives in harm’s way to protect the lives and values of those with whom they may vehemently disagree.

I wonder how many of these born again and idealistic young new patriots will opt to serve their country in the active military, or National Guard, or in the Peace Corps or in any other service of selfless commitment. It’s easy to be a critic, but it takes character and backbone to be in the game.

C.J. Goode Jr.
Durham

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I was deeply troubled after reading your Nov. 16 article “Winds of patriotism renewed.” I have flown my flag during the Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and now Obama years.  Anyone who feels pride only when their candidate wins doesn’t understand how blessed he is to live in this country. The country is greater than any one individual or ruling party.  Shame on these people for flying the flag only when their guy wins. Your article left me with the understanding that very few people truly understand what America is all about.

George Barutis
Garner

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Thank you so much for printing Paige Allen’s letter “No pledge to president” in the Nov. 18 paper. This 13-year-old’s thoughtful letter took away some of my fears about the future of this country. Her parents must be very proud!

Lila Hopkins
Fuquay-Varina

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Webster defines patriotism as “love and loyal support of one’s own country.” In my case, that would be the United States of America. This is what patriotism and the American flag represent to me. It does not represent support for any one individual.

As an adult since 1957, I have proudly displayed our flag under all its presidents since that time; several held beliefs I did not support.

I resent The News & Observer’s giving newsprint space to an individual who plans to fly our flag in support only for an incoming president and not for our country. The News & Observer owes an apology to the U.S. flag and to the newspaper’s readers.

Betty Hay
Raleigh

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Regarding your Nov. 16 article “Winds of patriotism renewed”: I am an 82-year-old World War II-Korean War combat veteran, past American Legion commander and Veteran of Foreign Wars commander. This article and those who contributed to it disgusted me. 

Patriotism is not a light switch that you turn on and off depending on the president. It is a privilege paid for in blood by real Americans. Ask a Gold Star mother.

I am a lifelong Republican who has seen many Democratic presidents: Roosevelt, Truman, JFK, Johnson, Carter, Clinton. I flew my flag for each of them. I was taught to respect the office, if not the man who held it. True Americans are patriotic all the time, not just when it is convenient.

W.J. Williamson
Cary

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In a democracy, it is unpatriotic to be blindly proud of your country. As citizens we are expected to exercise judgment and to make our opinions known to our elected representatives.  When we fail to take that responsibility, we are showing our lack of patriotism. 

Patriotism is not about flag waving. It is about caring enough to vote so that your country will do the right thing as you see it. It is about volunteering when you think your country needs your help. Waving the flag comes after you have done your patriotic duty. 

It is now time for many liberals to wave the flag and many conservatives to complain about it. That is as it should be.

Lane Tracy
Cary

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What I believe

Regarding your Nov. 16 article “Winds of patriotism renewed” in which I was quoted, and subsequent letters:

What makes the flag precious and so very special is not the colors or the designs, though one might argue “Old Glory” is beautiful in and of itself. Oh, no. What makes the American flag so precious and special to us all is that for so many years it has represented the hopes and aspirations of us all; where without deliberation or hesitation, each American and, some might argue, non-Americans could look at Old Glory and have a common belief in the values it represents.
When, however, we begin to link the flag to some person, some party, some policy and do so repeatedly, we run the risk of diluting the true spirit of the flag, and it becomes debatable to the average person whether the flag is the flag or something else. Is it representative of support for a president, a political party or a controversial policy such as a war? Can I make an assumption that, when I see a flag flying in a certain neighborhood, the owners are most certainly of one political persuasion or support a particular president or a policy?

For the past eight years, it has been debatable as to what the average person was seeing when he saw Old Glory flying. Many assumed, and rightfully so, that if Old Glory were flying on any day other than the 4th, Memorial Day or after a national tragedy, that the owner was most certainly of one political party. Those individuals, including myself, chose not to fly a flag outside these designated times, not because of how we felt about the flag (i.e., the lack of patriotism argument) but because of our concern for how many, if not most, would perceive our flying of Old Glory. Once the meaning of the flag becomes diluted for political reasons, Old Glory may be flown less, but that fact remains independent of the notion of patriotism. So is it my place to question one’s patriotism? I think not.

Here’s what I believe. The American flag should not represent a policy, nor should it belong to a president or a party, but to a people. That’s what I believe.

Ronnie Chapman

Cary