Liberals really hate it when you say they hate America. Some of them prove it. Some of them make strange arguments about how they love Cherry Pop-Tarts and McDonald's, so of course they love America. Managing Editor Curtis Houck took exception to a Washington Post column about how liberals love America, too -- or things about America. That's missing the patriotic point.
Monica Hesse has a new column headlined Trump’s lazy insult for liberals is deeply confusing. “These people hate our country,” says Trump. But she loves Pop-Tarts....
I also love McDonald’s. I love Thanksgiving Day parades and Fourth of July pool parties. Mission: Impossible movies and John Grisham novels. Holiday Inn Expresses and my hometown’s annual Corn Festival…
But she said this: "This has become a central political division in our country. The right accuses the left of hating the United States; the left responds that protest is American." We know that journalists don’t like wearing flag pins or saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the white house. But they often have a problem with the concept of patriotism in general. They associated it with jingoism, the use of patriotism to push for endless wars.
Hesse complained: "There’s no point to a stupid argument about whether you or I love America more than Trump or a bunch of Fox hosts do."
But loving America is about loving the founding ideas of America, of democracy and liberty, even if these ideas weren't fully put into practice for many years. Pledging allegiance to the flag isn't suggesting the country has always been perfect. It's about allegiance to the country through thick and thin.
Journalists have said some vicious things about displays of patriotism. In 2003, PBS host Bill Moyers uncorked one: “I decided to put on my flag pin tonight…I put it on to take it back. The flag’s been hijacked and turned into a logo – the trademark of a monopoly on patriotism….When I see flags sprouting on official lapels, I think of the time in China when I saw Mao’s Little Red Book on every official’s desk, omnipresent and unread.” That’s especially gross, comparing flag-pin wearers to Chinese commie mass murderers.
In 2007, Bill Moyers was at it again on PBS, saying the Pledge of Allegiance is a LIE: "The next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance….Remember, it's a lie, a whopper of a lie. We coax it from the mouths of babes for the same reason our politicians wear their flag pins on their lapels. It makes the hypocrisy go down easier."
Moyers went on to talk about executions of murderers, Rickey Ray Rector in Bill Clinton's Arkansas and Karla Faye Tucker in George W. Bush's Texas. It's a little weird to think the Pledge is somehow about... the death penalty?
In addition, we chat about Alex Christy's latest late-night study, which found the guests of these talk shows lean dramatically. There were 106 liberal guests to one conservative. Among partisan officials, it was 30 to zero. As our Rich Noyes tweeted, “Republicans control the White House, Senate and House, but Dems control late night TV by a 30-to-zero margin.”
Stephen Colbert on CBS was the most aggressive, with 14 left-wing pols and 29 woke celebrities and journalists. People still watching that show know what to expect. It sounds more like a Democrat precinct meeting than a bubbly comedy hour.
We also discuss the latest on defamation suits against the network, including Gavin Newsom's new suit against Fox News, and Paramount settling with President Trump over quote-mangling on 60 Minutes. CNN's Brian Stelter summarized: "CBS News did nothing wrong. But its parent company still paid the price." Nick Fondacaro has a new column up on the defamation-suit battles.
Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you listen to podcasts.