Reader Daddy writes in:

Last week John posted about how Canadian flags are everywhere in Canada. And today on foxnews.com, there's a picture of Lebanese protestors with a SEA of Lebanese flags. It sent a chill down my spine.

Why is it OK for everybody else to be patriotic, except for Americans? One step further--why do we tolerate strong nationalism for others, but when we express it, we're fascists?

It's the Northglenn Stoner Syndrome.

Let me explain. I went to Northglenn High School in Northglenn, CO. It's a fairly typical high school, or at least it was when I went there. We had all the cliques represented of course, running the gamut from freaks to geeks...and stoners. You know the type. They may not have actually done any drugs, but you couldn't tell by looking at them. And the best I could tell, they only found meaning in their lives by dumping on other people's fun. Think Buddy Repperton, and you start to get the idea.

So they'd show up at pep rallies and make a point not to stand or cheer. They'd show up at games and act all dour, or cheer the other team. And they HATED school spirit. Anyone who showed any kind of pride for The Norse was automatically "lame" (yes, this was awhile ago). In fact, there was a cadre who wished they were attending Thornton High School instead and took the opportunity to sing its praises. In that group, it was cool to be anti-Norse, and a fair minority of students did need tacit approval of that group.

And I have to say, I can't help but wonder if those guys grew up and became Lefty icons.

Rambling story aside, let's consider a few things. Based on the mini debate James and I had with a reader in the thread in question, the complaint against American patriotism is that it's "jingoistic." I have to say I don't understand that viewpoint. I do tend to wonder from time to time how patriotism became a sacred cow that couldn't be questioned (we saw that from Teresa HEINZ Kerry, whenever anyone questioned her husband it was automatically portrayed as an attack on his patriotism and therefore invalid.) except by the Left. I think it's actually reasonable to question the patriotism of people if and when those people give you cause to question it. For instance, ANSWER protesters liked to hoist signs proclaiming the US to be an imperialistic fascist state. I think it's safe to say those folks don't have deep love of this country.

But what about your everyday guy driving around in a Ford with an American flag sticker? Is that "jingoistic?" I'd have to say your average guy deserves the benefit of the doubt. I don't think it's valid to proceed from the assumption that patriotism is insincere unless proven otherwise. If we do, then reductio ad absurdum the ANSWER-type rallies could similarly be judged invalid. After all, how many of those marchers were there not because they believed in the sign they held but because of access to easy ANSWER poon?

Is this woman insincere? Or these girls? If overt and gratuitous displays of patriotism are grounds for judging someone insincere, then look at all these phony people. But of course they aren't...because they aren't Americans, and the Northglenn Stoners of the Left have decreed that it's uncool to love your own school but quite acceptable (indeed, expected) to love another. Love of country is judged provincial and quaint and unsophisticated. Well, it's judged beneath Americans, but OK for those provincial, quant, unsophisticated foreigners, isn't it?

Don't we see this on display when we're talking immigration? How many breathless declarations of admiration have we heard from Cocktail Party Lefties about the "culture" that their immigrant acquaintances (like their maids and their gardeners) are holding onto? How many of those Lefties latched onto embracing the culture those immigrants left behind? Think about the outcries we've heard from them over suggestions that we eliminate bilingual education. It's portrayed as forcing these poor people to turn their back on their heritage. Well, I may be old school but I can't help thinking the mere act of emigrating from one's country is closer to turning one's back than expecting their kids to speak English. And think of how immigrants who embrace America wholeheartedly tend to be portrayed in pop culture. They're dupes and comic relief.

So far I've indulged in a little ranting, but haven't really addressed Daddy's question. I think it's twofold. First, the idea that pride in America is misplaced has been quietly entrenched in our society for quite some time now. Think back to the 60s, if you can. America was portrayed as the problem by the intelligentsia. And wasn't that reinforced throughout the 70s, culminating with Jimmy "Never Met A Dictator I Didn't Like" Carter? Reagan did a lot to reverse that outlook among the general population, but I don't think it ever really left certain quarters of our society, like college campuses. And nowhere is raw American patriotism sneered at more than on college campuses. In fact, it's so turned around there that being actively anti-America IS judged patriotic. How often have we heard the sniveling? "Well, I am hyper critical of this country because I love it so darned much." Puh-leeze. You're in love with what you want America to be in your own mind, not what America actually is.

And second, embracing other cultures is a way for your Cocktail Party Lefty to demonstrate his own open-mindedness. It's a tacit way of saying "Look at me, I'm so open-minded I appreciate all these other cultures and do not judge them." Come to think of it, if a person is appreciative of another culture not because he's actually appreciative of it, but instead as a way to show others he's open minded, is his sincerity not in question? Is he not, to use a now-familiar term, jingoistic....?