Nothing more needs to be said than this -- a repetition of the trenchant observation by a REAL American patriot, Samuel Johnson:

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

It can't be said any better, or any more clearly.

My neck is sore from doing double takes. I can not believe the lengths these folks go to in order to somehow justify their immorality.

Letterman does this bit he calls, "The George W. Bush What Moment," or something like that. He plays a clip of Bush making no sense whatsoever, then as the camera goes back to Dave, he does a double take and says, "What?!?".

More and more "What's" happening every day!

I love my country and I hate what is happening to it. So what so often comes out as 'You hate America', is really, 'You hate what I want America to be'. Which is utterly true. Simply because they have co-opted my country, my society and yes even my religion doesn't mean I have to like their vision.

I suppose thats why its called a culture war.

I know liberals are kinder and gentler than conservatives, but I don't know why it can't work the other way. There's a good case to be made for the fact that those who want to cripple our country by riding roughshod over the Bill of Rights (not to mention the first three Articles of the Constitution) are the ones who hate America. Anyone who thinks it's OK to torture people - ANY people - hates Amercica and the principles for which it stands. Anyone who thinks it's OK to invade another country without provocation is a hater Freedom. Anyone who believes a country's executive should have unchecked power must hate America. There are any number of violations of the law, of morality and of common decency of which our elected leaders are guilty, and which demonstrate a true hatred for our country's historical values.

Check DKos for what's happened since Kaloogian's photo was taken:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/30/14344/6926

...that the "you hate America" defense is being used by the GOP, when yesterday's Salon featured the following quote from the guy who spoke after Tom Delay at the recent "War on Christians" conference:

"America is no longer good. Unrighteousness, evil, corruption, perversion and death are now standard operating procedure in the United States of America. If we do not put an end to it now, in this moment of divine destiny, then God will and God should judge America."

Who hates America?

This kind of lame response reminds me of how an immature junior high scholl student responds to a reprimand from a teacher..."He/she hates me!!!". At that point, the student proceeds to shut his/her brain off and wallow in self-pity and can avoid taking any responsibility for the behavior that brought on the reprimand. Such behavior is often reinforced by that students friends, who support the whining rather thatn questioning it. Generally, however, as the student matures, they become better at taking responsibilty for their missteps and moving on with life. Those that don't continue to blame others for their failures. Such continued behavior is typical of those who don't succeed in school.

Those who don't grow out of this sort of infantile responses then go on to become hard-done-by Repulican bloggers, or congressional wannabees.

I don't hate America....

(but you I can live without)

You people have got to stop hating America ... Don't you know that if you aren't supporting the troops, you're hating them? Stop carping about getting them body armor - that plays into the hands of the enemy! Stop your communist mutterings about how we've left them in the dessert with no international support and vulnerable to a civil war - that is a myth invented by el Qaeda!

Don't you people understand that Freedom Is On The March?!!! All this talk about how everything we're doing is only helping expand Iran's regional hegemony is unpatriotic. We are painting schools over there, for heaven's sake!

So stop all this nonsense, this hating of America and repeat after me: "Our fearless leader is a Great Leader. (Didn't you see that flight suit?) Like God, he must be obeyed in all things, because he talks to God. (And yes, God does listen!)

So stop being haters, get with the program (on Fox, of course!) and follow the leader ...

PoliticalAnimalOnline.com

Actually, another American, Ambrose Bierce, did say it better and more clearly. From his "Devil's Dictionary":

“PATRIOTISM, n. Combustible rubbish read to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first.”

Thanks to the Ben Domenech scandal, I completely forgot to hate America for a whole week! I was too busy reading blogs to burn those flags. How will I ever catch up?

Hopefully, more high profile right wingers will take one for the team and follow Ben's example: get involved in some kind of scandal that will cause them to lose their jobs. It's the only way they can save the country they love from America-hating people like me.

Having been subjected to the "you hate America" attack myself, I found a very effective response is, "No, I love America. It's people like you that I hate."

- William Wheeler, PhD

Samuel Johnson was as American as Prince Charles! Are you confusing him with Samuel Adams?