Patriotism. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name.
In an election year, there tends to be a great deal of flag waving. The brandishing of Old Glory seems obligatory for candidates; yet it seems wielded more as a weapon than a standard of love for one's country. Beneath the banner of the Stars and Stripes, the promise of liberty and justice becomes superseded by a nationalistic fervor intent on the exclusion and vilification of one's perceived opponents, as if cherishing America is contingent upon despising political foes. Abandoning the notion of reasoned discourse in pursuit of truth, this brand of patriotism demands a slavish conformity to party above country; and leads inevitably towards the blind ambition of power at any price. It brands disagreement as degeneracy; thus any dissimilarity is recast as deviltry worthy of contempt and destruction. In doing so, the fires of discord blaze, and the resulting conflagration consumes the country that is supposedly revered.
In the pursuit of notoriety, the torch of this patriotism supplies more heat than light; illuminating a darkness best left to the shadows.
