Descent into dissent and deceit

Ralph Peters:

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We've all heard humorless America-haters promote themselves by announcing, As Thomas Jefferson said, "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."

The first problem with that self-righteous bull is that Jefferson never said it. On the contrary, he warned of the dangers of political dissension carried to extremes.

The earliest traceable provenance of the slogan goes back to an obscure 1960s lefty who just made it up (long before activist-historian Howard Zinn commandeered it).

My fellow Americans, let me ask you: Were Abby Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and Sen. Barack Obama's Weatherman Underground pals (who bombed their own country) really more patriotic than those who served in Vietnam? Was trashing the campus records office truly the "highest form of patriotism?"

Dissent can be patriotic - it's essential to have an ongoing public debate about the major issues confronting us. But that dissent must be based on facts, not sloppy emotions.

Instead, we get dissent worn as a fashion statement. And fanatic dissent (as Jefferson noted) is the enemy of a democratic system.

Then there's that other, even-more-famous line so inexhaustibly satisfying to the left: "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel." Dr. Samuel Johnson did say that.

Well, I love the guy and his dictionary (I've got a huge two-volume replica edition - it's so heavy you could bench-press it). But the sad fact is that, living on the edge of penury, Johnson dined out on his reputation for one-liners - many of them formulated more for well-padded posteriors than for posterity.

And by his own definition (if we take his formula seriously), old Sam must've been a whopping scoundrel himself - during the American Revolution, he became a raving jingoist (although that word had not yet been invented).

Johnson suggested that all of those nasty colonial rebels be hanged - although he did think hanging was too good for them. As English as cold roast beef, he detested the French, as well. And you didn't want to get him started on the Scots or the Irish. Alas, dear readers, Dr. Johnson was a patriot.

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Peters is not too keen on the "audacity of hope" slogan either. Audacity and arrogance seem to go together better. I do tend to think that anyone who is complaining about his patrotism being challenged is at risk of validating the challenge. Most people I know also don't have to say they are not a crook.