Sole Patriotic Following

Patriotism is dead. The President has seen to that.
The most asked question in the past four years has been : "Why do they hate us so much?"
If an American hasn't asked themselves that since the Iraq fiasco had begun, then they need to jump back into reality before they face a surprisingly rude awakening.

President Bush united the country under the circumstances that foreign powers want to hurt the democracy, freedom, and way of life for all American people. The flag was flapping behind him when he gave the speeches that sent thousands of men and women to a desert to fight for the so-called "American Right".....where did it take patriotism ?
Americans are now looked upon with even less respect than when they started off - and I know fans of Ann Coulter will say some unintelligent babble sounding along the lines of : "We don't care what other people think ! We're Americans ! We gave you guys the Ipod, McDonalds, and NBC....We have provided the most for the world because we own the most ! - but this statement only applies to the American population who have only seen the world as far as their land reaches....the rest of the world matters. In fact, if these Americans don't care what others think, then why are so many asking the above question ? If the rest of the world didn't matter, why is it that the international economy for the US took a deep hit after the invasion ? Why is that the dollar value of the American Dollar (which was the most powerful at the time) take a huge cut since Bush sat in the chair ? (And no, Ann Coulter fans - do not compare Dubya with Reagan; he may not have had the political background as most did, but he single-handedly raised the economy level in the 80's and stopped Communism....if anything, Bush is trying to be Reagan - trying being the operative word and failing being the correct one...)

This is the problem with patriotism as a means of waging war - it only goes so far as an ideology.
With the war on terror being so close to the Iraq invasion, it was easy to see where the overlapping could pass off as one war leading to another, with the same values and principles as the previous one. But it can only stand on its own for so long. The people need to see positive results about where their patriotism is being put to good use. If not, then it splinters and cracks on all sides, eventually falling apart.
WMD's ?
None.
So where did the nation come off as being threatened ? The state was under attack, right ? So where are the weapons that would've destroyed us ?
How is our freedom affected at all? And what was the point of rallying all of us under the flag ?
What were we after in the first place ?
When can we stop so that our people won't have to die anymore ?

Patriotism is unification built under trust. To unify people from all over under one flag, requires a reason to see what needs to be done to keep these people safe. It requires trust in the leaders to have a plan, to have a cause, to have a reason.
What Bush and Cheney (can't forget old "Big Time") don't understand is that isolation of a nation costs the people, not the government. Presidents and Prime Ministers come and go with the times, and a new person leads the country with new policies. But the stain stays with the people.

Octavian