Over on Slate, David Greenberg has a couple of interesting essays (here and here) about "patriotism" as a campaign weapon…one that's being deployed in the current match-up and which we're likely to see, ad nauseam, in the months ahead.
My particular problem with that is that this kind of debate always revolves around a particularly shallow kind of patriotism — waving the flag, reciting the pledge, standing for the anthem, etc. After 9/11, patriots of that depth all bought those $3.95 plastic flags (Made in Taiwan), put them on their cars and were satisfied that they had done their part as Americans fighting The War on Terror. Bill Maher described that as "pretty much the dictionary definition of 'the least you could do,'" and I think he was right. There's nothing wrong with singing of the rocket's red glare…and you can certainly be a Patriot without spilling blood or making some serious sacrifice. I just don't think you're a better American because you say so in a louder voice.