If Patriotism is defined as "Love of and devotion to one's country",?

Question

how did voicing a different opinion than the president/administration/ruling party become unpatriotic?

Answer 1

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
---Mark Twain

The point--the president is the servant of the people--and when he acts against our interests and disregards the good of the country, as Bush has repeatedly done, then supporting him IS unpatriotic.

Answer 2

Americans do not dare to ask questions and this is not helping. Saddam Hussein would had never helped the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but the Republicans helped them in the 1980s with out thinking about the future.

Read about how the US Federal Government go after Americans that dare to dissent

http://www.homeland-security-join.com

http://www.us-government-torture.com

http://www.secretangel.tv

http://www.mdspec.com/

The following is what happened after I criticized the US Federal Government and Sam's Club 6625 in San Fernando California 91340 / Samuel Robson Walton of Wal Mart Stores, Inc in Bentonville Arkansas 72716

Answer 3

It definitely is not.
However, spreading unfounded rumors about an elected representative of this country, calling them names, or treating them as "guilty until proven innocent" are all excellent ways to be seditious, which makes it unlikely you will ever be considered "patriotic" by anyone sane.

Disagreement, dissent, and protest (hopefully AFTER you have tried legislative methods) can all be used patriotically.

As President Bush and Former President Clinton said, (paraphrasing): All our Presidents have been good men trying to do their best for the country, just differing on how it should be done.

Are you a patriot, first, seeing other, different, political party members as fellow Americans first, party members, second?

Do you call our representative names? Do you spread rumors that have yet to be proven? Do you assume they lied, commited illegal acts, and tell others they have without benefit of a trial or any other form of justice?

If so, you are NOT patriotic. You are seditious, and your behavior is worthy of contempt.

If you are trying to oppose the policies you disagree with to the best of your ability to help our country, without undermining our country, and without helping our enemies in the process, then you are a patriot.

Answer 4

It depends on who thinks it's their country. If you ask me a 'PATRIOT is someone who's informed of ALL sides positions and is tolerant of differing views and life-styles. LOVE of COUNTRY is when you're willing to lay down your life to preserve Freedom and Democracy ! It is not patriotic to wage war for Imperialistic Fantasies ! It is patriotic to be free to speak out when you see corruption and deceit from OUR 'elected' officials. We fought to HAVE a DEMOCRACY !We didn't have anyone come here and bomb& shoot us as a way to help us be as Democratic as them.

Answer 5

Depends for me. If someone is saying The President sucks and bashing our gov or something then yah ill call them unpatriotic. But one of the great things about this country of ours is that you can have your own opinions. Its just the way you voice it

Answer 6

Don't worry, the same thing was happening in 1930's Germany, and they turned out just fine...LOL

Answer 7

Simple. There is a destructive leader in power who told us, "You're either with us, or you're with the terrorists!". It was SIMPLY destructive coming from a leader, as it is his people whom he guides and influences. September 11, 2001 and his words, aided him in creating the great divide amongst us. He KNEW there would be some who would rally in support of him, while there would be others who would cry out against him...he CREATED that divide with the words that fell from his lips. A tragic event (9/11), played on the hearts and minds of men, and any GOOD leader would NEVER have used such tragedy to create such a divide by what he said to his people. We were vulnerable at that time, and truly, the greatest terror of all was that which now lived in the hearts and minds of mankind. As a leader, it is your responsibility to answer to ALL your people...not just those who support you. However, by creating a huge divide amongst us, he then was able to hide behind those who support him...meaning, he could just let the opposing groups 'duke it out'. It would appear that some were now 'unpatriotic', as they spoke out against him, wanting answers and accountability for his own actions. One cannot TRULY bring justice and hold accountable ANYONE for their actions, as George W. Bush, so continuously proclaims, without FIRST being held accountable himself to ALL his people for his OWN actions. Period. He must step out from his own cave, before claiming to smoke someone else out of theirs, which he has failed to do also to this day. The divide serves him in that it appears to be a dispute amongst the 'patriotic' and the 'unpatriotic', when in REALITY, it is a DIRECT result of poor and DESTRUCTIVE leadership. The divide allows him to not have to answer to those who oppose his leadership, because he is upheld by some. And if it feels good to those who support him, to have their so called leader be proud of them for being 'with him' and not the terrorists, they should think twice. He is USING them to support his own SELFISH agenda, and God forbid, should they even dare have a change of heart about his leadership, or surely, they will suffer too. By hurting some of his people, he hurts ALL of them. I am reminded of the child who is never once openly assaulted by his parents, but must sit by and watch the abuse of his own siblings. He dares not cry out against what he sees, for surely he, too, will be ridiculed and made to suffer even more. After awhile, this child will come to believe that this way of life is normal. It has now become a coping mechanism for him to view it in this manner, because the truth has hurt him too much. Although, he is never assaulted by physical means or obvious slander, surely, he has been abused also. Those who died on September 11, 2001 had no chance to run, and the very least that I can give back to them, is to not run from my own pain. It is out of honor to them that we ask EVERY question possibly conceivable about that day and our current state. To be ridiculed and called 'unpatriotic' for that which cries out in the name of love, is simply despicable. Must we argue and get lost in the place that our leaders know will lose us even more unto ourselves? Surely we all have the rights that live in our Constitution. How about the right to honor those we have loved and lost? Our we being denied our own humanity when we are made to feel wrong for asking about the humanity of those whose lives were STOLEN? It hurts to lose, and those who cannot accept this fact, run far and away. As for me, my truth is not greater than what those who have died, forever lost! I will NOT run, so that I may better understand the pain of those who have died. I will leave this world with my own boots on, for THEIR sake, unto the very end. I WILL ask questions, and when I am ridiculed for it, you can bet, I will be all the more suspecting of a leadership that is WORSE than destructive and despicable. I leave with these words: Theodore Roosevelt, (1858-1919), 26th president, once said, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." Now, THAT is UNPATRIOTIC!

Answer 8

I'd always support my if a person I liked (eg. Ronald Reagan) was running it.