This has been building for some time now, but it's finally out in the open: To be overtly patriotic and show public support for the American flag is now a sign of conservatism.  Not the longstanding traditional "good" conservatism of small government, fiscal discipline, and a strong military.  No, these days, to be a flag-respecting, America-first patriot is to reveal oneself to be a white-privileged, Trump-supporting, LGBT-phobic, terminally non-woke ignoramus of the lowest kind.  Rehabilitation from such a position is impossible in the eyes of the enlightened Progressive.  In the current social climate, to be patriotic is a permanent brand of both cultural illiteracy and personal ignorance.

Hardcore liberals and radical activists have long had serious issues with patriotism and public displays of national support.  One of the first examples to be widely seen by a worldwide television audience was when American track medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in a black power salute during the playing of the U.S. national anthem at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Various memorable anti-American personal protests have followed through the ensuing years, but for whatever reason, it's the kneeling during the National Anthem by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the 2016 preseason that seems to have sparked the current surge in anti-American social demonstrations.  Kaepernick—a singularly undistinguished NFL quarterback whose career had been marked by a continual downward spiral of dramatic underachievement in spite of his impressive college football accomplishments — is accused by many of simply being transparently opportunistic, trying to confer some personal notoriety upon himself in order to offset his rapidly diminishing professional prospects.

However, regardless of Kaepernick's actual motivation for kneeling, his actions seemed to serve as the pivot-point leading to the stark increase in today's liberal anti-American sentiment.  Being anti-flag/anti–American history has become a virtual litmus test for anyone seeking to prove the legitimacy of their woke credentials.  The degree and depth to which progressive politicians, entertainers, and liberal news sources denounce and demean traditional U.S. historical figures and symbols makes Obama's "apology tour" very early in his presidency seem tame by comparison.

With the enthusiastic backing of Big Tech, the liberal mainstream media and powerhouse corporate entities desperate to not offend what they foolishly think is their core customer base, the woke/anti–traditional American movement, have taken hold.  According to them, what was previously regarded as good about America is now bad:

• The Revolutionary War was fought by slave-owning white men desperate to further their advantageous positions in life.  It was not, as popularly and erroneously reported in the past, fought by American patriots looking to bravely forge a self-sufficient new nation, free from the economic and religious oppression of British royalty.  Therefore, in light of what the Progressive left now purports, our Founding Fathers should not be accorded any credit or honor.
• According to NPR, the Declaration of Independence is a "flawed" document with "deeply ingrained hypocrisies," the station said after its on-air reading this year.
• Despite the Civil War having been fought to end slavery, in the minds of the woke left, the fact that black Americans continued to face hardship and discrimination for decades following totally negates any good intent on the part of the country or President Lincoln.
• America played a huge role in two world wars — without any intent on annexing more land or taking resources — ridding the world of evil regimes bent on conquest and domination.  While this is somewhat admirable on the surface, America's deep, structural racism, which prevented the racial integration of fighting units or the promotion of minorities to high command positions, largely cancels out any good accomplished by our military and instead only highlights America's continued moral shortcomings.  The teaching of U.S. history like Pearl Harbor, the Doolittle Raid, Midway, D-Day and more is now largely ignored, because for Progressives, those were battles fought by white men mainly for the benefit of other white men.

New York Times board member Mara Gay did an excellent job recently of summing up the woke left's present-day anti-American flag position when she said, " I was really disturbed to see dozens and dozens of American flags on pickup trucks" while she was on Long Island.  The Utah chapter of BLM just declared that anyone flying the American flag is a racist.

This is exactly how the left now feels about overtly patriotic displays.  The woke left hates the very idea of Make America Great Again.  These people intentionally lie and say it's code speak for "Make America White Again."

Then you have people like New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who said, "America was never that great," safe in his governor's mansion, with his high pay and guaranteed cushy lifestyle.  To the left and the liberal media, the American flag is rapidly becoming a symbol of evil conservatism, specifically Trump-supporting conservatism.  It's no longer acceptable for a Progressive to be supportive of the flag or American history without first making explicit, obligatory statements condemning what the left currently feels are this country's past sins.  Only when the country's historical flaws are cited is it even marginally acceptable to show any kind of approval for this nation.

To the left, people who are loyal to the country, respect the American flag, stand for the National Anthem and appreciate its founders, heroes, and history are unsophisticated, unenlightened bigots who've willingly and ignorantly bought into the lies perpetuated by hateful conservatives like Donald Trump.

That's where we are now.  Patriotism = ignorant, bigoted conservatism.  The Progressive left regards its dismissive condescension toward its own country as an essential prerequisite to achieving the current Holy Grail of woke approval and acceptance.

Image via Max Pixel.

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