Are you a PATRIOT?

I boldly and proudly proclaim that I AM NOT.

What is patriotism? I've given this much thought over the past few weeks as it has become a popular discussion on radio programs as we lead up to the election and Independence Day. The discussion usually goes something like this, "Is it patriotic to leave our troops in harms way?" or "Can one be a patriot and still be critical of the government?" or "The most patriotic thing a citizen can do is to join the dialog and try to help the government improve."

I humbly and respectfully declare that these people are asking the wrong questions. The right question is this: "Can a lover of democracy possibly be patriotic?" or this, "Should a democracy even ask her citizens to be patriots?"

Let's examine the word "patriot" for a moment. It comes from the Latin prefix "Patr" which refers to "father." We see it in words such as "patriarch" and "paternal." I therefore see two things wrong with our country asking for patriotic citizens.

1. We are a democracy (a republican democracy to be sure, but still a democracy). Therefore it should not be about the "father" or the head of our country. Our allegiance should be to the brotherhood (or sisterhood if you prefer). Shouldn't then, we be asking our citizens to be fratriots (or sorortriots if you prefer)?

2. Let's allow that we aren't referring to any one figure head but to our country as a united whole. Fine, but don't we usually refer to the United States as a female? "Proudly SHE stands," we must protect "her" in times of war, etc. Therefore, even if we believe that our allegiance should be to the collective "one" - meaning our country - shouldn't we ask our citizens to be matriots?

"Patriot" seems to only refer to one scenario and that is that we are declaring our allegiance to the male-dominated bureaucracy which has taken over our democratic republic. It is this kind of "patriotism" that made it impossible for Hillary to assume her rightful place as the Matriarch of this land (ok, now I've gone too far...)

And there you go. Call me a fratriot or sorortriot. You can even call me a matriot. But please, don't call me a patriot. It just makes no sense.


******Please note: the preceding commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of this blog and is meant to humor Dr. Nick and others. Do not send hate-comments. Thanks.******