"Clap-For-Tinkerbell" Patriotism
"Stop Doubting and Second-Guessing: Support President Bush and Our Troops," commanded a large billboard in rural Arizona. Accompanying that directive was a toll-free number for a group calling itself "Arizona Citizens." Those who dialed the number were greeted by a recorded male voice instructing callers, in a tone of triumphant hostility, to "get out of our country," perhaps by emigrating to "liberal Europe." "Clap-For-Tinkerbell" Patriotism
by William Norman Grigg
January 10, 2005
Does loving our country require unquestioning support for President Bush, as many of his most devoted followers insist?
"Stop Doubting and Second-Guessing: Support President Bush and Our Troops," commanded a large billboard in rural Arizona. Accompanying that directive was a toll-free number for a group calling itself "Arizona Citizens." Those who dialed the number were greeted by a recorded male voice instructing callers, in a tone of triumphant hostility, to "get out of our country," perhaps by emigrating to "liberal Europe."
The odd thing about that invitation is that the mentality that created that sign could be described as "European," in a sense. That mind-set was all the rage in certain European circles about seventy years ago.
"It is with pride that we see that one man is kept above all criticism – the Fuhrer," explained Nazi leader Rudolf Hess in a June 25, 1934 speech. "The reason is that everyone feels and knows [that] he was always right and will always be right. The National Socialism of us all is anchored in the uncritical loyalty, in the devotion to the Fuhrer that does not ask for the wherefore in the individual case…. We believe that the Fuhrer is fulfilling a divine mission to the German destiny! This belief is beyond all challenge."
