As a student at Western Washington University in Bellingham, the Northwest’s liberal mecca, I have been witness to all sorts of anti-American sentiment and action. I have seen flags burned; I’ve been slandered in print and over the airwaves, and called every dirty name imaginable. But last week while driving, I witnessed the most blatant anti-American statement I’ve seen, since arriving in this leftist cesspool.

While traveling home from work I approached a rag-tag station wagon from the fast lane and, while passing, noticed the bumper sticker in the rear window. The sticker read, and I quote, “FIGHT PATRIOTISM.” I was shocked and aghast at this statement and was not surprised when the driver of the car was (no stereotyping whatsoever) the classic dejected looking local teen in tie-dye. Her dreadlocked hair barely covered by the “rastafarian” headdress pulled low over her hollow eyes.

All I could do was shake my head in disbelief as I passed the vehicle and made my way home. But this little event got me thinking. Have we come so far in this nation where patriotism itself, once a noble virtue, has fallen under attack? And, sadly, the rather obvious answer was a resounding, “yes.”

Although I’ve lived a mere 22 years, I have, as an outspoken patriot and conservative student, observed more than my fair share of anti-U.S., hateful, ungrateful, leftist jargon and action. But this was such a blatant and, for me, cutting remark that I was taken aback, if only for a moment.

It was shortly thereafter, on Memorial Day 2004, a day set aside to remember and honor those who have died in the service of our country, that the large 3’x 5’American flag which adorned my truck for the holiday was burned in my own front yard and my truck vandalized and burned as well.

Apparently I have no right to be patriotic or fly my flag in this town. Apparently the mere vision of it so enrages some of my fellow students that they must risk incarceration and monetary fines by attacking our national symbol in a heavily populated and patrolled area. And what would so possess a member of my own generation, a generation that has had a life of ease and prosperity handed them by the sacrifice of others, to place a sticker attacking patriotism itself on her vehicle for the world to see?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines patriotism as, “a love for or devotion to one’s country.” 

What part of that is worth attacking? Sounds completely wholesome and full of citizenship to me? And that’s exactly where kids like me and those wearing Che Guevara t-shirts begin to differ.

When I think of America I think of our grand national symbols, our beautiful flag, the American bald eagle, the Lincoln Memorial, Chimney Rock, and the Oregon Trail. The slide-show of my mind pans from the Twin Towers to the Rocky Mountains to the magnificent and infinitely wise words contained in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, penned by such great minds as James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson. I think back through the years and my study of them and remember The Gettysburg Address, the “shot heard ‘round the world, President Reagan’s immortal words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” and the echoing, “Let’s Roll.”

Our nation is truly a beautiful place, blessed by the Almighty, but I also remember the not-so-attractive parts and moments in our history; a civil war, two world wars, depression, Vietnam, and trouble in the Middle East.

Who could forget seeing their own countrymen and women leaping to their deaths from a burning World Trade Center in New York City, bodies ragged through the streets in Somalia, or the sight of a tear-stained Vet, searching for his buddy’s name in that cold, dark granite wall.

I am not a naïve kid. I don’t view this country or our history through rose-colored glasses. Yes, Jefferson fathered children with his slave, George Custer took on Sitting Bull, President Nixon lied to us, Bill Clinton had sex with an intern, and U.S. soldiers took pictures of naked Iraqi prisoners.

But that is not where the story ends. Despite the mistakes, treachery, and bad decisions in our past, this country still stands as a shining beacon on a hill for the rest of the world to see and learn from.

Even at our most inhumane, we pale in comparison to the likes of Adolph Hitler, Kim Jong Il, and Joseph Stalin. Even at our poorest, we have more to eat than a majority of those populating the globe. At our most oppressive, we have more liberty and possibilities within our grasp than any other country in the history of the world.

We’re not perfect; as long as counties are composed of people, we won’t be. But we are special. So special that men like my Grandfather, Percy R. Sherar, in the prime of his life, risked it all, joined the U.S. Army and fought valiantly for his country against the Japanese in World War II, alongside hundreds-of-thousands just like him, members of the “greatest generation.” And he not only fought for our freedom but sent money home to a widowed sister and family, fathered a daughter and worked hard enough over 86 years so that she and three Grandchildren could go to college. And not one day passed when Old Glory wasn’t flying over his home. Not one note of Reveille passed through a bugler's instrument when a tear wasn’t upon his cheek and a snappy salute on his brow. 

He never sat me down and taught me U.S. history. He didn’t fill my head with “patriarchal, ethnocentric” myths about our grand superiority. He never lied to me about the existence of a sordid national past or preached of the glory of war.

I would defy anyone on my campus of thousands of misled youth, to find a part of that story with which to disagree, or “fight.” Patriotism is just what he showed me, the love for and (undying) devotion to his country, our country.

He lived it.  

That’s Patriotism.

And herein lies the reason for this generation’s distrust for and hatred toward a country that has given them so much, and for which so many have sacrificed.

Many would say that I had a blessed childhood, afforded with such a strong role-model as my Grandfather. And the same crowd would say the shortcomings of the current unpatriotic members of my generation are due to a lack of such a model of patriotism. Many would say I love America because I was born into a white, middle-class Christian family with two parents, two brothers and a college fund, or because I’ve never experienced the hatred that is racism, or disability or the threat of fighting a world war.

But this simply doesn’t add up. While all those things are true, I share them with so many disgruntled 80’s babies. In fact, most of the hateful, anti-American students I come into contact with were afforded a much more “successful” upbringing (in society's view) than was I. They drive BMW’s and only choose not to wash their hair to spite their CEO father. 

So what could be the reason for my burnt flag, and stickers and sentiments like “FIGHT PATRIOTISM?”

I have found that it stems, simply, from a hatred of the very principles America stands for and has stood upon for 228 years.

Hailing back to the casting off of American traditions, responsibilities and morals that took place during the 1960’s and 70’s, the birth of the radical liberal movement, today’s disgruntled youths hate and fear all that has made this country great: belief and faith in God, a love for family and country, respect for human life, hard work, and liberty.

The liberal movement attempts to eat away at these patriotic ingredients. How else can you explain the murder of millions of unborn Americans, or the radical feminist idea that women are better off without men, tearing away at the family structure. And how do you explain the push for rampant government handouts, social and welfare programs, or the removal of everything remotely relating to the God of the Bible in our schools? And then there’s the treatment of our troops. Baby killers, murderers, thugs; just a few of the names John Kerry and his crowd use for the valiant men and women who currently serve our country and have in the past.

And, believe me, I could go on.

Sometimes, when confronted by alternative views on a subject that oppose my own, I ask myself, “How do I know that I am on the right team, and that my beliefs are truly the best for this country?”

Then I think of everything that the liberal movement stands for. They work against everything truly American, everything sacred and valued in this nation for over 200 years, everything that has made us great. And I’m reassured.

Why do kids on my campus and many across this nation hate patriotism? Because in order to be patriotic you must love your country, good and bad. It seems to me much like a wedding vow...“For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.”

Yes we’ve had bumps along the way, yes we’ve made mistakes. But the building blocks of this nation are good and pure and true, and the left is incapable of understanding that. So they fight patriotism, attempting to combat everything good about the United States of America.

Matthew S. Haver is a senior at Western Washington University and host of the conservative talk-radio show The Boiling Point on KUGS FM 89.3.

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