And the first refuge of America's wingnuts. Fox "News," Limbaugh, and all the rest of the wingnuts love to declare themselves "patriots," when they are in fact a clear and present danger to everything America is supposed to stand for.

Patriotism is, quite literally, the single worst and most harmful force in all of human history. There are harmless forms of it, to be sure, but if one has to fit a slogan on a badge then in an ideal world it should be "Patriotism Bad!" rather than "Patriotism Good!".

However, to win elections in America it's vital to wrap oneself in the flag.

At my city's anti-Bush war marches, the Vets for Peace stood out because they carried the Flag they had fought for. I understood completely: dammit, it was theirs and not some corporate logo. They had fought and bled for the country it stood for, and if they didn't have the right to claim it when they were protesting, who did?

Many were my age and had been through the Vietnam War; there was also a good contingent of WW II and Korean War vets, though due to sheer age many have since passed away. They vowed to be there for the new vets when they got home...

Patriotism may be the last refuge of the scoundrel, but that is not the fault of those of us who love our country and would see it fulfill its best ideals. Shame on us, though, if we don't expose the scoundrels and throw the bums out.