RE: Patriotism, an Abomination
Well, thanks for giving such a clear example (albeit by accident) of the profound confusion that "patriotism" creates. You are obviously angry at me for not bowing to the political class whose flag you wave. You then jumble together the people who resisted British rule with the people who more recently have acted as global aggressors for the U.S. politicians, as if what they do has anything at all to do with "protecting our freedom." By the way, the "Founders" consisted of several nearly principled individuals like Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson (though all had their flaws), a long with a bunch of opportunistic politicians who betrayed and destroyed the ideas expressed by those three (and others). If you want to unravel the truth, from the mythology you were taught, you can start here:
You compared people waving the American flag today to those people who waved the Nazi flag during WW2, as if there were some kind of equivalency there.
Apparently, you never learned that the people who broke open the concentration camps and freed the prisoners there wore the American flag, and waved it, too. Any comparisons between these saviors of men and the monsters they fought is a false equivalency of the most egregious kind.
You are unworthy to breathe the same air as the people you decry. Patriots have been some of the most remarkable people in history.
Ben Franklin was the man who tamed lightning.
George Washington was one of the greatest tactical minds in history.
Thomas Jefferson was a writer without equal.
Yet you would dismiss all these as simply men who were unhappy about their taxes.
Perhaps we should try to hold your achievements up against theirs, and see how the scales of history judge.
Again, you could use more actual information and less mythology. Franklin, Jefferson and Washington all OPPOSED the existence of the standing army you now worship. But you are simply reacting emotionally to feelings your rulers trained you to feel, lashing out at those who actually advocate freedom and justice. As Voltaire put it, "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere."