Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Patriotism

"No great nation can make renew itself and itself better without recognizing the wonderful things within it. That applies to everybody." - Peggy Noonan
She actually said that in response to someone wondering why Germans are discouraged from being proud to be German -- the had host interjected that it might have something to do with a "track record". Of course, she was talking about how patriotism is now denegrated as "rude", "jingoistic", "arrogant" or "national chauvanism", etc. She jumped in and said the above to the caller. She said "I know what you mean."

She had just come off of telling us about people she meets in New York, about how everyone there is from somewhere else, and she loves it when some one says I'm from Jamaica or Kenya, and I love it -- let me tell you why...

She also went on to say that as she's grown older she's come to appreciate that religious and political establishments exist for a reason, and that reason has something to do with accumulated wisdom, order, etc. They're not infallible, but they exist for a reason. Pretty well said.

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