Paul Krugman: Who Loves America?

[ancianita]

If what bothers you about America is ... the fact that it doesn’t look exactly the way it did in the past (or the way you imagine it looked in the past), then you don’t love your country — you care only about your tribe.

And all too many influential figures on the right are tribalists, not patriots...

...Why are Republicans so fixated on the notion that the president must use the phrase “Islamic terrorism,” when actual experts ... agree that this would actually hurt national security... it’s all about drawing a line between us (white Christians) and them (everyone else), and national security has nothing to do with it.

Which brings us back to the Vlad-Donald bromance. Mr. Trump’s willingness to cast aside our nation’s hard-earned reputation as a reliable ally is remarkable...all the flag-waving and hawkish posturing had nothing to do with patriotism. It was, instead, about using alleged Democratic weakness on national security as a club with which to beat down domestic opponents, and serve the interests of the tribe.

So if it seems strange to you that these days Democrats are sounding patriotic while Republicans aren’t, you just weren’t paying attention. The people who now seem to love America always did; the people who suddenly no longer sound like patriots never were.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/opinion/who-loves-america.html

[quickesst]

1. K&R...

Spot on!

[teach1st]

2. I'm kicking it

...and recommended.

[The Polack MSgt]

3. As we've been saying for at least 12 years

It was never about America the country for the Rs

It was always about AMERICA IS OUR COUNTRY!

[calimary]

5. Yep. We've known this all along.

[Moostache]

4. I have been saying that since the "flag pin issue" in '08...

But I knew it was going on far further back than that...

The GOP chickenhawks have ALWAYS been full of shit not patriotism.
Its the same as many (not all) evangelicals...those that use their flavor of Christianity as some sort of cudgel to beat others with...

It never has been hard to see, just hard to get people to look and call them on it.

[ffr]

6. Boom!!!

That's going to leave a mark.