Krystal Ball came out swinging on Krystal Clear today on the Cyclist. She is rightfully mad that the Right Wing has appropriated the word patriot.
Cliven Bundy is a rancher who has been grazing his cattle on public lands without paying the required fees. He was also grazing on protected land. Cliven Bundy has lost his case against the federal government several times. The federal government finally came in and impounded Cliven Bundy’s livestock.
Ultimately an armed gang of thugs came from many parts of the country to support Cliven Bundy. Fox News and other conservatives referred to Cliven Bundy and his thugs as patriots.
Imagine if these were armed land owners in North Dakota and South Dakota attempting to protect their land against corporations evoking eminent domain on their land. Does anyone believe conservatives would call them patriots? Does anyone doubt the government would go in for the kill?
Yet the government backed down from Cliven Bundy and his thugs. The government gave him back his livestock.
Just because conservatives call Cliven Bundy a patriot does not make him one
These guys are not patriots. They do not recognize the United States as their government. They do not respect the rule of law. They disregard the ruling of the courts. Why are they called patriots? They are called patriots because many allow them to get away with it. In not pushing back it becomes a reality for many.
Krystal Ball said it best when she said.
We on the left should not allow conservatives get to away with appropriating patriotism; bastardising it and claiming it as their exclusive domain. We should not accept their loaded rendering of the term. Because real patriotism should be grounded in the recognition that from the highest heights of power down to the homeless vet sleeping on the streets we are all Americans.
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