by Matt Barr

You're-being-mean-to-me liberalism

I'm no fan of Thomas Jefferson's, generally. I think it goes back to high school social studies, when Mr. Olick argued that Jefferson's decision whether to consummate the Louisiana Purchase was more agonizing and weighed more heavily on him than Truman's decision to drop the bomb did on Give Em Hell Harry. I understood even as an only partially adult youngster with zits that anyone who would agonize over whether to consummate the Louisiana Purchase was an idiot, or at the very least a utopian daydreamer far more interested in a head-in-the-sand, walled off milk-and-honey paradise of bucolic corn-growing and sheep-herding, unsullied by the scoundrels and mountebanks of commerce, than normal people. So, sure, it's irrational.

But even I don't think Jefferson was dumb enough to say "dissent is the highest form of patriotism." I don't think even Franklin, in his most boozed up orgasm of hectoring and cajoling the great unwashed, would say something so irredeemably nonsensical on its face. Citing even an authentic quote to the effect that dissent is patriotism, if you could find one from someone anybody should be paying attention to, would be unpersuasive anyway.

Patriotism is devotion, an unblinking commitment to country. It isn't defined by good arguments any more than love is; you can no more be talked into patriotism than into being a fan of a Buffalo sports team. You think I'm not patriotic? Get a load of this: I dissent! No. If you have something to say, please do say it, but don't tell me your prepared remarks include an explanation of why you're a patriot. Patriots don't need explaining.

Patriotism is devotion, but also, more directly, a willingness to sacrifice. A high form a patriotism would be to support a foreign policy contrary to your principles. Sir Thomas More was a patriot as well as a saint: Given the unfair choice whether to serve his church or support his king, he kept quiet. It will take a better man than John F. Kerry to convince me More wasn't a patriot because he didn't make self-referential Kerry-like speeches.

It's a low form of something, by the way, not patriotism, to rail against "politicians seeking a safe harbor from debate" from within sight of your overleveraged $12 million Beacon Hill mansion. What are you "sacrificing," or even expressing a willingness to sacrifice, by standing athwart history shouting "neener neener"?

But forget what the virtue of patriotism is, and consider what dissent is. It has no substantive quality of its own, it depends entirely on what you're disagreeing with. Of all people, our most accomplished and persuasive founding writer, Jefferson, would have understood this. Would Jefferson, Kerry or Nadine Strosser have called arguing that all senior citizens should be rounded up and euthanized "patriotism"? Only very tried and true modern leftists believe that today; it is, technically, "dissent" against what normal people think. So? Three cheers for the old people killer! How very patriotic! How about "the sky is pink"? That's "dissent"; only very tried and true modern leftists believe that today, too. I don't think anyone would go around insisting it's patriotic.

"Dissent's" connotation is that of a minority position: Most people believe one thing, and you believe another. Mr. Justice Scalia doesn't "dissent" when he has six of nine votes for his side, he "dissents" when he has two. There is, we acknowledge, an element of courage to outwardly disagreeing with others, our appreciation for which grows proportionally with the size of the majority (or, otherwise, the power) your opponents have. Which makes "dissent" against the policies of a President with something like a 30 percent approval rating more "opportunistic" and "candy ass" than "courageous" or "patriotic." VCRs used to be all the rage, now most people prefer TiVos or DVDs. Well, I'm going to "dissent" from people who still prefer VCRs and bravely proclaim my support for DVD players! In the middle of one of the highest concentrations of DVD users in the country! Lookit meeee!

More than five grueling years into the Bush administration and those on the left still can't resist the urge to make it all about them, now by glomming onto this fake-but-accurate Jefferson quote. You're stifling my dissent! I didn't vote for Bush and now everybody thinks I'm unpatriotic and a traitor! Or, I'm the real patriot around here! I dissent! Yes, yes, you're very special. I get it. You're "patriotic" insofar as you're devoted to the people in America who agree with you, while the rest can pound sand; and you're willing to sacrifice... what? Your dignity? No, they're willing to sacrifice winning elections so long as everyone understands how special they are.

Every time a Sen. Kerry goes on about how what he's doing is the real American stuff, more people who already agree with him hoot and holler, but more people also resolve they'd sooner endure a Scientology pitch from Tom Cruise than vote for Kerry or anyone like him. Healthy debate being, not patriotic, but necessary to keep the republic's branches pruned, this is a distressing thing, in addition to being unbelievably annoying.

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