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We’re in the midst of a national kerfuffle over what it means to be patriotic, and it has a lot more to do with ego and attitude than substance. Funny thing is, the man who started the ruckus never served in the military.

President Donald Trump has castigated NFL players for not standing during the national anthem and criticized franchise owners for allowing them to do so. Last week, he used the NBA finals to renew his spat with players LeBron James and Steph Curry—both had taken issue with his hard-line attitude—and said that neither the Warriors nor the Cavaliers would be invited to the White House.

Never heralded for consistency, Trump talks about showing respect for the military, but during his campaign he denigrated Sen. John McCain for being taken prisoner during the Vietnam War—as if it were McCain’s fault he was shot down while flying combat over North Vietnam. As if Trump knows anything about combat.

Patriotism is easier to define than talk about in a meaningful way.

The Oxford dictionary defines it as “devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country.” Nothing there about standing for the anthem. Outside of singing the anthem or serving in the military, how do you show devotion for your country?

If you repeatedly dodged the draft during the Vietnam War because of a bone spur in your foot, but you now criticize NFL franchise owners for allowing their players to take a knee during the anthem—are you patriotic?  (Hello, President Trump.) Are you unpatriotic if you went to Canada during the Vietnam War but later returned to the U.S. and now teach in an inner-city public school where most students come from low-income families?

What if you never stand for or sing the anthem, but you mentor a fatherless child—are you less devoted to the U.S. than the guy who enthusiastically sings the anthem but cheats on his taxes? 

How about if you stand at attention for the anthem at weekend football games, but during the week you direct your employees to dump toxic waste into a nearby river—are you devoted to your country?

Just talking about whether the anthem should be part of sports events gets people lathered up. Columbus Dispatch sports writer Rob Oller questioned why the national anthem is sung at sporting events. He didn’t criticize the anthem, and he didn’t advocate taking a knee during the anthem to protest social wrongs. He simply questioned the connection between the anthem and sports.

Based on the reactions that followed, you would have thought Oller had advocated anarchy and flag burning. Readers referred to him as “disrespectful,” said his column was an “affront” to patriotism, and called his writing “ridiculous commentary.”

All this over a song. As if the anthem alone defines patriotism.

Let’s look at patriotism from a different angle. Criminal defense attorney, Diane Menashe, has handled some 30 capital cases. Her work is thankless. Menashe’s clients—those accused of murder—are anything but sympathetic. Most recently, she defended convicted sex offender Brian L. Golsby who brutalized and murdered Ohio State University student Reagan Tokes.

The average citizen probably doesn’t understand why Menashe handles these cases. But her work is critical. Lawyers like Menasche ensure the government has to proves its case and that defendants are not imprisoned without the benefit of due process. Is Menashe just a zealot, or is she demonstrating devotion to the Constitution and the freedoms we all hold dear?

At his inauguration speech in 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave us a sense of what patriotism is without trying to define the term.

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

Patriotism isn’t what we say or whether we stand to sing the anthem. If you measure patriotism by that standard, then you’ve opted for a dollar store version of patriotism.  It’s what we do for the nation that counts. Let’s have more doing and less talking.

[This post was published in the Columbus Dispatch on June 22, 2018.]

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Jack D’Aurora writes for Considerthisbyjd.com

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Also published on Medium.